


Big Hero Mer

by bonniepride



Series: Big Hero Mer [1]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: F/F, M/M, Mer AU, Mer!Tadashi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-05-27 15:17:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 54,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6289645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonniepride/pseuds/bonniepride
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fred always knew there was something mysterious about the mansion down the road. What he didn't expect, when he manages to get get inside, is to find a real live mer named Tadashi, and even less to completely and totally fall for him. He'll have to get Tadashi's family to trust him, though, in order to be with the merman and help him achieve his dream of being human!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Wow, I am sooo excited to be here! This is my first time posting on AO3, although I've been reading fics on here for a while now, and I am really, really pumped to be getting to share this story with you! I feel like this is the most heart and effort I've ever put into a story, and I hope it shows. Before I go any further, I'd like to thank the beta for my story, the lovely TheNightFury who helped make this story sooo much better than it would have been if I'd just gone it alone! (Love you otouto!) Anyways, enough of my chatter, I know you all want to get to the story, so, without further ado: Big Hero Mer!

Fred wipes his brow as he leans against the wall of the stately living room that he was cleaning. Dang, housework was harder than he'd ever imagined! For his entire life, Fred had lived in a house with an army of servants to pick up and clean after him-it was one of the perks of having a father who owned a large corporation. Until about a week ago, Fred had never even held a mop. But it was funny how necessity could change things. Well, not necessity, exactly, but close enough.

For as long as he could remember, Fred had lived in the same house (well, mansion, really) on the same street in the same gated community in the same town. Sure, his parents had exotic vacation homes all over the world, but the truth was, most of the time they went off on vacations without him, leaving him to be looked after by the family's loyal manservant and butler, Heathcliff. It was bad enough during the school year, when at least Fred got to be around other teens-not that he actually had any friends at school, mind you. He set off everyone's nerd radar in a hundred mile radius and no one wanted to be associated with the dweeb that the bullies at school took great pleasure in shoving into lockers and throwing in the dumpsters on a regular basis. But at the very least he had company there. Now that it was summer, he was stuck at home and completely B.O.R.E.D. Almost all of his neighbors were elderly couples who were sweet but had a bad habit of pinching his cheeks and smelled like cat urine or else were young rich who had no interest in him, much too busy with their own fabulously adventurous lives to care about the teen who liked to spend his weekends at conventions or resorting his massive collection of comic books. Of all the neighbors on the street, the ones which fascinated him most were the Hamadas. The family had lived there for as long as anyone could recall, which was a very long time considering how long some of the residents on this street had been there. Apparently years ago the home had been owned by a young doctor and his wife, but they had died in a terrible car accident, leaving behind a young son as heir to the estate. An aunt had been found, and she had come to live with the boy, and that's about all that anyone knew about the matter.

Even before the accident, Mr. and Mrs. Hamada had been very private people, never coming to parties or associating with their neighbors. After their death, the son and his caretaker were almost never, ever seen. There were rumors that the aunt had a cafe somewhere in the city, although no one had taken the time to confirm it and she was never seen coming or going. The son was apparently taught by tutors at home (he was rumored to be a genius of some sort, a child prodigy, but that also had never been confirmed.) Most of the families in the neighborhood decided to leave them in peace, if that's what they wanted, or were just not interested enough to care what happened behind the gates. But to Fred, the Hamada mansion held an air of mystery, a riddle just begging to be solved. And, given the fact that he had nothing but time on his hands, Fred was determined that this would be the summer that he would find out what was going on in that mansion.

It hadn't been easy to get inside. He'd tried the subtle approach-sending a formal invitation to the boy who lived there to come over to hang out. After all, they were approximately the same age (he was seventeen; the boy, whom he had found out by asking around was named Hiro,was thirteen) and it could be considered a nice, neighborly gesture. Unfortunately, he had never received a reply, and after a couple of weeks of hoping, he'd given up on that course of action. Next he tried the more direct approach-spying. He'd go for "walks" in the neighborhood, dawdling outside the fence of the Hamada estate for as long as he could without raising suspicion (although he was pretty sure he had anyways.) He now knew just how many cracks there were in the sidewalk in front of the mansion (28) and how many bars were on the fence (232), but little else. Aside from a gardener who absolutely refused to even answer to "Hello", no one ever came or left the mansion, and the solid stone structure refused to yield any of its secrets as the drapes were always drawn in all the windows (even around back, he'd managed to check once). He was just about to give up and sink into a dull, listless apathy like he did about halfway through every summer when he finally found the answer to his prayers.

It had come in the form of overheard gossip from two of the maids who were cleaning the living room. Apparently one of them had heard from a friend, who heard it from another friend, who heard it from their cousin's sister's step-daughter's brother who apparently knew the man who delivered all of the Hamada's groceries that the mysterious mansion down the street was looking for a new house boy as the previous one had left to be married and were discreetly asking around in hopes of finding a replacement. Instantly, Fred was filled with a fiery determination. It didn't matter that he knew nothing about cleaning or taking care of a house-he was going to get the position and find out once and for all what was going on over in that house.

It had honestly been almost a miracle he'd gotten in. First he'd had to convince some of the servants to show him how to clean the house-they had looked at him like he was losing his mind, but, then again, they were used to his slightly eccentric whims and eventually he'd convinced them. Once he was finally able to tell a broom from a mop, he was ready for the next part of his plan: actually getting an interview. It had taken a lot of work-given it would be suspicious to ask the maid he'd heard about the job from to help him, he had to try every grocery store in the local area, pretending to work for the Hamadas and needing to "make a change to their regular order" before he'd finally located the one that they actually got their supplies from (and man, apparently they ordered a lot of fish…) As soon as he'd found that out, he'd managed to get Heathcliff to drive him over (thank goodness the butler hardly ever asked questions, let alone spoke) and, after much asking around, finally located the friend's friend's cousin's sister's step-daughter's brother's acquaintance who actually delivered the groceries. The man thought he was absolutely insane when he asked him to help him get a chance to apply for the job ("What does a kid like you need with a job like that?") but after much begging and pleading (and, all right, a little bribery), he'd finally managed to score the interview.

As much trouble as it had been to get the interview, Fred was prepared to face the forces of Valhalla when he finally arrived at the Hamada estate on an early Thursday morning. He'd expected to be interviewed by the head of staff, like most of his family's servants were when they applied for a job. When he heard, though, that he was to be personally seen by the lady of the manor, he'd almost passed out-surely she would see right through him, even with all the references he'd managed to get from his family's staff (he'd told them he was applying for a theater arts program at the local community college and needed references of his character, and they'd bought the story easily enough-although maybe it was just that they knew he'd stop bothering them the sooner they did as he asked and had learned not to ask too many questions.) But, to his great surprise, Cassidy Hamada (or Cass, as she insisted he call her) was a very sweet, kind, unassuming lady who looked like she'd be more at home in a small apartment, wearing sweats, baking cookies, and taking care of a cat or two than running an entire manor. The interview was very brief-apparently the fact that he'd been recommended by their regular delivery person whom she trusted and that all of his many references spoke very highly of his character was enough for her, and, to Fred's utter amazement, he landed the job. There was a slight snag in the fact that he would not be living on the grounds-he was tempted to actually agree to that in order to go completely undercover, but apparently his story that he was a local university student and also was needed at home to look after his ailing mother and seven younger siblings (okay, he'd probably been pushing it a bit with that-why hadn't he thought of a more sensible number, like three?) had been believable enough that she agreed to allowing for that. In exchange, however, he had to sign a massive privacy contract: apparently he was not allowed to even talk about anyone or anything he saw on the grounds or else he would be sued within an inch of his life (not in those exact terms, but close enough.) Fred had gladly signed-after all, solving the mystery was something he wanted to do for himself, it wasn't like he was planning on telling the entire world (unless it turned out that the Hamadas were actually super villains or something-but in that case, he'd find a way to become a superhero and deal with the problem himself. Going to the police was completely for amateurs!)

So yes. It had been about a week since Fred had started working here, and while he hadn't seen anything definite, he had his hopes high! The house itself was something of a mystery-the entire place was nautically themed, with artifacts that looked like they might have come off of actual sunken ships decorating every room, and more twisting passages which seemed to lead to nowhere and dark, abandoned wings than he could ever care to count. The staff themselves were a very tight-lipped group-there were very few of them to begin with, just barely enough to keep up with general care of the house and taking care of the family, and either they were extremely determined to keep their mouths shut or just weren't talkative by nature as he rarely could get even a "Hello" out of them (and he had definitely tried!) The family… Well, Cass seemed perfectly normal (it turned out that she did own a cafe, which she worked in every day, as it had been her dream to run one ever since she was a little girl and she hadn't wanted to give that up, even when her brother's death had left her with more resources than she knew what to do with), but even though she was generally talkative and friendly, there was something in her tone and the way her eyes sometimes shifted at the slightest unexplained sounds that made Fred think that there was more to her than she was letting on. As for her nephew, Hiro, Fred hardly ever saw him, and the few times he had seen him the teen had refused to even make eye contact with him-he had an air that seemed to say that he wanted to be left alone and yes, in fact, he did think that he was better than everyone. All of these things kept Fred determined to keep trying, despite how hard the work was (he was kind of the catch-all for any tasks which the other servants couldn't or wouldn't do, on top of some small regular duties, and he soon discovered that cleaning a mansion was an endless job.)

Oh. And had he mentioned the locked secret room?

Yes. That was where he was sure the key to the whole mystery lay. On the day of his interview, once he'd signed all of the forms, he'd been given a tour of the mansion, and while he'd been told that his job would be to help keep the areas of the house which the family used regularly clean as well as any other portions of the mansion he found time for, he had been given very clear and almost threatening instructions that he was never to try to enter or so much as go near the door to a certain room in the house. Of course Fred had agreed to these terms, but since that day he'd used every opportunity he could to try sneak in. He'd attempted just turning the handle, and when that hadn't worked, he'd tried his skills as a lock picker, only to discover, to his great disappointment, that the room required a fingerprint scam to unlock it. From then on, he'd try the handle whenever he could, just in case it was accidentally left unlocked, or at least to press an ear to the door in case he could hear something behind it-so far he had only ascertained that there seemed to be running water of some sort in the room-but even this was difficult as the door seemed to have someone guarding or keeping an eye on it almost 24/7 so attempts had to be squeezed into lucky moments when no one was looking. Still, Fred would not give up hope. He was desperate to know what was going on in that room, especially now that it was almost in his grasp!

Unfortunately, at least for now, he had a job to do and, realizing that he'd been standing still, lost in his thoughts, for so long that it was probably beginning to get suspicious, he shakes himself and continues mopping the floor of the sitting room. It was the room next to the hall which lead to the family's living quarters and also housed the door to the secret room, and he spent as much time as he could cleaning in here everyday. However, he was beginning to think that the other servants were starting to get suspicious and that he was going to have to change up his routine if he didn't want to be found and and, consequently, fired before he could even find out what was actually happening here.

He lets out a tiny groan of frustration as he shoves the mop across the tile with a little more force than was necessary. He was so close! When was he going to catch a break?!

It was almost like Heaven had heard his pleas and was finally answering them. Out of nowhere, Fred suddenly became aware of the sound of voices-or one voice, at least, which he managed to identify as Hiro's-coming from out in the hallway and-was he imagining it, or was it actually emanating from behind the door to the mystery room?

Instantly formulating a plan of action, Fred ducks behind the curtains of the study-maybe it wasn't the most original hiding place, but it served his purpose. He stays still, barely breathing, listening, listening…

There it was! The sound of a door opening-and not just any door, a door that sounded like it hadn't been used in a while!

"All right Dashi, laugh it up, but maybe you'd like having to walk around the long way to get to your room when you accidentally locked the second door from the wrong side!" Hiro's voice says, catching Fred completely off guard. Not only was it much more cheerful (despite the obvious annoyance in the tone) than Fred had ever heard it before, but apparently, unless he was talking to himself, there was someone else in that room-someone who, if Fred had heard right, was named "Dashi".

The man's heart pounds in his chest as he hears the younger boy's footsteps in the hallway, padding off down the corridor. From what Hiro had said, he was heading back to his room-that was a good ways down the hallway. If that was the case, and he hadn't actually seen him, Fred had time to sneak over to the door and give it a try. Was it likely that the door would have stayed unlocked? Almost definitely not. It probably automatically locked whenever the latch went back into place. But still, there was the slight chance that maybe it hadn't properly locked. It was one-in-a-million chance, but it was still a chance and he had nothing to lose by trying.

As soon as he's certain that he doesn't hear Hiro's footsteps in the hall anymore, Fred carefully climbs out from behind the drapes and sneaks across the study to the opening to the hallway. He peers around the corner-no sign of the younger boy.

All right, this was it-this was probably going to be his best shot at ever finding out what was going on in this place, and he might have only moments to go for it. As fast as he can, he races across the hall, putting his hand on the bar-like metal handle and pressing down on it. Please open, please open, please open!

And, lo and behold-it opened.

Gasping with exhilaration at his success and good fortune, Fred pushes the door open and ducks inside. The heavy weighted panel "clicks" shut behind him with a note of finality. If he'd been thinking clearly, Fred might have realized that he was potentially stuck in here- with Heaven-knew-what was being hidden inside, maybe you had to thumbprint scan your way out as well as in. But Fred wasn't thinking clearly-he was instead gaping with awe at the scene in front of him. It was almost like a tropical paradise had been brought inside-the entire room was filled with exotic plants which filled the air with their sweet, heady scent, the floor covered in pure white sand. And, in the middle of it all? An olympic size swimming pool full of pure, crystal blue water, so deep that, from his position near the door, Fred couldn't see the bottom of it, although he could faintly see some murky shadows in the water, suggesting that there was something beneath the surface. What drew the majority of his attention, though, was a man-made cove on the side of the pool closest to him. Stones were stacked to create a miniature cave, the inside of which appeared to be fitted with stone benches, some of which were halfway in-and-out of the water. It was somewhat hard to see the inside, however, as there was a waterfall running down over the front of it like a protective curtain, shielding it from the rest of the room.

Unable to contain his curiosity (he had come too far to go back now, even though he'd probably find himself up to his eyeballs in trouble and lawsuits if he got caught poking around in here), Fred makes his way across the sand as silently as he can, intent on investigating the cove. Surely the family wouldn't be this intent on just keeping an indoor paradise a secret, even from nosy neighbors who might want to make use of it! There must be something more to it, and somehow he had the sense that whatever he was looking for was in that cove.

Just outside the entrance to the cave, Fred draws up short-there really was no point of return here-he had to go under that waterfall to get into it, and he'd have no explanation as to how he'd ended up soaking wet if asked and he'd end up completely busted. Was it probably the stupidest decision of his life? Oh yeah. But he was determined that it would be worth it. So, taking a deep breath, he ducks his head and runs underneath to find-

Nothing. After all this time, after everything he'd gone through, he had found absolutely nothing! Nada! Zip! Zilch! Goose Egg! The cave was just a stupid cave, there was nothing special or of value here! Gah, how could he have been so stupid?! Building up the "secret" of this place in his mind-he had probably been making it all up, and now what did he have to show for it? Nothing but potentially a life in prison for completely breaking his employer's trust like this. Maybe it would be easier just to drown himself in the pool-a lot quicker and a lot less painful too.

Just as he's about to ram his forehead into the wall in frustration (wondering if he knocks some brains loose if maybe he can plead insanity), a voice says, "Hiro? Hiro, is that you? Did you find the screwdriver you were looking for?"

Instantly Fred whirls around to face the direction of where he'd heard the voice coming from-he hadn't even heard someone else come in! Moments later, he spots him-half submerged in the water, obviously having swum in (which explained the silent entry), he was without a doubt the most beautiful man that Fred had ever seen. His raven black hair glistened almost blue, the water droplets caught in it shining like tiny diamonds. His pale alabaster skin spoke of a life lived without much sun, his toned chest and arms adding to his almost statue-esque quality, as if every one of his perfectly defined features had been chiseled out of marble. And his eyes-oh, those eyes. Fred swore that he could feel himself melting into them, as if he was being sucked into twin chocolate whirlpools that had him in their deadly thrall but were so warm and inviting that he didn't even care that he was drowning.

He was so caught up in them, in fact, that it wasn't for a full minute that he realized that he'd missed one very, very important detail about this almost demi-god that he'd just encountered: Namely, that beneath the surface of the water, where his legs should have been, he had a long, lithe silver tail.

He was half fish. And Fred had just completely and irrevocably fallen for him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Thank you soooo much to all of y'all who have started reading the story and have been leaving kudos for me, you have no idea how much I appreciate that! I hope you enjoy this new chapter as much as you enjoyed the first!

"You're not Hiro."

Fred was startled out of his reverie by the beautiful man's first words to him. Oh gosh, did his voice have to be just as amazing as the rest of him? He half expected the man to be panicked at have a stranger invading what was apparently his private sanctum, or perhaps even in a fiery rage. But his tone suggested neither of those things-if anything, it was completely matter-of-fact mixed with a tiny bit of curiosity.

"U-um… Y-yeah, I-I'm definitely not Hiro," Fred finally manages to get out, only to want to slap himself-seriously, how stupid was that response?! Of course he wasn't Hiro! That had been a rhetorical question!

Instead of looking at him like he was an idiot, though, the other man lets out a musical laugh that practically made Fred's heart stop before swimming forward so that he was directly in front of Fred. His chocolate orbs search Fred's own cerulean ones.

"Who are you?" he asks softly.

"I-I'm F-Fred," Fred answers, swallowing thickly-it was hard to talk when he was looking at him like that.

"And what are you doing here?" the other man presses gently. "No one but my family and my tutor are ever allowed in."

"I-I kind of managed to get in because the door wasn't locked properly…" Fred replies honestly-somehow he found that he couldn't lie to this stranger, even if he had some sort of cover story to go with, which he totally didn't. Then the merman's words set in. "Wait, your family?" he asks.

"My aunt and my brother, Hiro," the merman explains with a warm smile which could only be described as dazzling. "I'm assuming you know them if you actually made it inside the house-unless of course, you completely broke in." He didn't seem angered by the idea-if anything, he appeared faintly amused at the thought.

"N-no, I didn't break in!" Fred hurries to reassure him nonetheless. "I was hired on as the houseboy."

"I see." Tadashi hums as he considers this.

"So, u-um…" Fred tries to think of something to say to this gorgeous fantasy that was staring him right in the face. "I-Is it weird to ask why your family is, y'know, human when you're...?"

"Mer?" the other man says with a wry smile. "Honestly, we're not sure, exactly. One theory is that one of our ancestors apparently had relations with a mermaid and, even though the baby was born human and raised as such unbeknownst to them it still carried the mer gene and so, every generation or so, one of us is born like this. The other story goes that said ancestor broke the heart of a mermaid and so she cursed him so that one or more of his descendants would be born with a tail so that he would never be able to forget what he'd done to her. But it's been so long that any stories of what actually happened are kind of hearsay and we don't really know what exactly happened. We just know what the effects are. It skipped a few generations, so they thought that it had actually finally run out. But then I came along and, well, I think you can see for yourself that it hadn't."

"I see," Fred said, although in truth he was still trying to somewhat trying to grasp the concept, given the fact that merfolk weren't scientifically supposed to exist and yet here he was finding out that there was an entire family living just down the street from him who all had mer blood. Of course he was more than happy to make this discovery, as it kind of vindicated all of his nerdy geeking out over various fantasy books over the years, but still! It was a little hard to take in.

"I've lived almost my entire life in this room," the other man continues, looking around somewhat sadly at his surroundings. "I need to stay in water most of the time to live and, beyond that, my family says that if anyone ever found out about me that they'd try to take me away."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Fred answers. "I mean, you're pretty freaking amazing!" Almost instantly he feels his cheeks turn bright red-wait, had he actually said that out loud?

The merman's eyes appear to dance slightly at that for a moment, but then his face goes serious as he adds softly, "It gets pretty lonely in here… I only get to see my family and my tutor, and even if I love them all dearly… There's some things you can't do with someone you're related to or an old, stuffy teacher, you know?"

Wait, was Fred imaging things, or was the merman moving in closer? Oh gosh, he was, he totally was! One perfectly formed hand reaches up out of the water and traces the curve of Fred's cheek, the other running down Fred's chest, leaving a damp trail down the fabric of his t-shirt. The involuntary shiver he gave at that had nothing to do with the cold water, though.

"W-what are you doing?" Fred stammers, although he already had a pretty good idea.

"What do you think?" the merman answers, gently tugging on his shirt to bring him down closer to his level.

"W-we don't even know each other!" Fred gasps in protest, although he honestly wanted this really, really badly.

"Does it matter?" the merman whispers back, his voice almost pleading. "Please… This may be my only chance! I'm probably never going to see anyone outside of you for the rest of my life… I need to know what it feels like…"

Oh gosh, how was Fred supposed to argue with that, especially when this gorgeous man was looking at him with those soul-melting brown eyes?

"A-at least tell me me your name first," he manages to get out.

"Tadashi. It's Tadashi," the merman answers before gently cupping his cheeks in his hands and pulling him into a passionate kiss.

Fred had kissed a couple of guys in his time. Not a whole lot, give his nerdy reputation at school, but a few, mainly just playful ones at conventions when he'd gotten into it with another cute cosplayer. But none of them had ever been like this. It was absolutely amazing, almost like a thousand fireworks were going off in his mind, and he tries not to let out a moan of pleasure as Tadashi's soft lips move against his. He vaguely registered that they tasted like salt water, but honestly, almost everything in that moment was lost in a blissful oblivion as he kisses this gorgeous man. If someone had asked him his own name, he wouldn't have been able to tell them. All he knew was that he was in the arms of this beautiful stranger and he never, ever wanted this to stop.

Unfortunately, the amazing kiss was interrupted when suddenly a voice full of deadly anger whispers, "What. The freaking hell. Are you doing. With my brother?"

Instantly Fred jumps away from Tadashi, feeling his heart hammering in his chest and his mouth open with horror as he sees Hiro standing just inside the cave entrance, looking like he was actually considering murdering him.

When Fred isn't able to answer, Hiro demands again, in a much louder voice dripping with rage, "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING WITH MY BROTHER?!"

Moments later, Fred finds himself being shoved up against the wall by the teen, who was obviously a lot stronger than his tiny frame suggested. "You freaking bastard! Do you think you could come in here and try to take advantage of my brother?!" the younger boy shouts.

"What? No, I swear I didn't-!" Fred starts to protest.

"Hiro, leave him alone!" Tadashi cries from the pool, his tail frantically churning the water into an anxious froth.

"Nii-chan, did he hurt you?" Hiro asks, looking to his older brother but still keeping Fred firmly pinned against the wall.

"No, he didn't!" Tadashi answers, his eyes flashing with frustration. "It was my idea, not his!"

"...What?" Hiro looks completely dumbfounded for a minute, and then he glares at Fred, somehow seeming even more angry than before. "What the hell did you do to him? Did you threaten to hurt him if he didn't lie for you? Did you drug him?!"

"HIRO!" Tadashi's voice is full of suppressed anger. "Let. Him. Go. Now!" He punctuates this last word with a loud slap with the end of his tail on the water.

"But nii-chan!" Hiro protests, looking confused and vaguely hurt.

"Otouto, I'm giving you to the count of three. One…"

"All right, fine," Hiro grumbles, finally letting Fred go.

"Th-thank you," Fred gasps, almost collapsing on the floor and sucking in deep gulps of air.

"How the heck did he even get in here?" Hiro asks, surveying the poor fanboy with obvious distaste.

"You apparently left the door unlocked," Tadashi responds patiently.

"I-damnit, I thought I closed it all the way!" Hiro groans before adding, "I'm so sorry, niisan, if something had happened to you, it would have been all my faul-"

"Hiro, nothing happened to me," Tadashi tells him firmly, "so don't even think like that."

"This creep got in here and started making out with you, that's not 'nothing'," Hiro grumbles, looking very much like he wanted to kick Fred, who was still on the floor trying to regain his breath, or, better yet, shove him into the deep end and leave him to drown.

"He did not start making out with me, I was making out with him," Tadashi answers, looking vaguely annoyed. "And it was very, very nice, might I add, until you rudely interrupted us."

"Why the hell would you even want to do that?" Hiro asks, appearing to be grossed out by the very thought of it.

"Because when else would I get the chance?" Tadashi huffs. "You never let anyone in to see me!"  
"That's for your own safety!" Hiro protests. "You know what people would do if they found out about you!"

"Take me away, lock me up in a lab or a zoo, yeah, I know," Tadashi answers, rolling his eyes and looking frustrated as he slaps the water with the end of his tail again-apparently that was a nervous habit of his, which Fred might have found adorable if he wasn't still trying to get his lungs to work properly again. "But I have. no. life. I've been stuck in here in this stupid pool day in and day out for almost eighteen years!"

"What do you want me to do about it?!" Hiro fires back angrily. "I've done everything I can think of to make you happy! I don't even ever leave this stupid mansion so that I can spend all my time with you! What more can you want from me?!"

Tadashi looks like he'd just been slapped. "I… I'm sorry," he whispers, not looking his brother in the eye. "I know you're doing your best… But you deserve better than this… That… That's why I had to try…"

Hiro looks momentarily confused and then his eyes go wide with understanding. "Oh man, Dashi… You know that those are just stupid fairy tales…" he says softly. "If we actually thought it would have done any good, don't you think we would have already tried bringing in as many girls as we could find to get it to work?"

"Um-should I ask what exactly is going on?" Fred asks, feeling like maybe there was something he should be informed of given he was apparently a part of whatever they were talking about.

"True love's kiss," Hiro answers, rolling his eyes slightly as if he couldn't believe how dense Fred was being. "You've seen The Little Mermaid, right?"

"Well, yeah, of course," Fred answers. Hadn't every kid?

"Then obviously you remember how Ariel was supposed to have been able to become human permanently?"

"She was supposed to get-oh. OH!" Fred's eyes go wide with understanding and he feels his cheeks going bright red. "So you thought that I-that I was…"

"It was worth a try," Tadashi answers, shrugging slightly and looking vaguely apologetic. "I mean, you're the first person to get in here after all of these years. You didn't immediately think I was some sort of monster and make a run for it. I just thought that maybe… That maybe that meant something. I mean, I've spent my entire life reading stories about fairy tale characters being rescued by their Prince Charmings. How could I not hope that maybe you were mine?" He sinks back down slightly into the water and says softly, "But I guess I was wrong..."

Fred couldn't help but feel extremely guilty at that, but what was he supposed to do? He wanted to help Tadashi-he really did. But true love? That was kind of a really tall order, especially since he'd just met the guy! It wasn't that he didn't find him attractive-he totally did! But actually falling in love with him? Given he didn't really know anything about him yet outside of the fact that he was an excellent kisser, he had no idea if that was even possible.

"So…" Hiro finally says, breaking the silence. "The question is… What do we do with him now that he knows about you?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to DestinyFaithAngel and everyone else who has left me kudos so far, I really appreciate all of y'all's feedback! It really helps me as a writer knowing that you guys are out there enjoying this story!

“What do you mean ‘do with him’?” Tadashi asks, his brow furrowing in confusion.  
“We can’t just let him leave!” Hiro cries. “He’s seen too much! How can we trust him not to go tell everyone about you!”  
“So what are you suggesting, that we go all Godfather with it and feed him to the fishes?”  
“Hm… I guess that trumps my original idea of finding a place to hide the body--fish digestion is a lot harder to track.”  
“HIRO! We are not killing him!”  
“Then what are you suggesting?”  
“...I don’t know, okay? Maybe we could keep him here!”  
“And that’s not as suspicious as murdering him? If he goes missing, everyone will come looking here for him and then they’ll go poking around and find out about you and you’ll get taken away from me!”  
“Well, it’s no better than your idea, they’d search for him here if he was dead too!”  
“Um, guys?” Fred says in a tentative voice. “Is there any chance that I have a say in this?”  
“NO!” Hiro answers.  
“Maybe,” Tadashi counters, shooting his brother a “shut up or there will be pain” look, adding, “We at least need to hear what he has to say. It’s not his fault that he found out about me!”  
“Like hell it isn’t--he was the one who broke in here!”  
“He didn’t break in, the door was unlocked thanks to you!”  
“He was told not to come in here but he ended up sneaking around anyways!”  
“GUYS!” Fred shouts, getting tired of the arguing.  
“What?” Hiro and Tadashi snap at the same time, looking over at him.  
“Look,” Fred says, sighing deeply--he could already feel a headache coming on. “I know that you barely know me. And what you do know about me probably isn’t enough to give you much confidence in me, given I kind of purposefully broke the one rule I was supposed to follow here.”  
“You know you’re pretty much digging yourself a deeper grave here, right?” Hiro deadpans, earning himself a swat from Tadashi.  
“But I swear, I would never do anything to harm any of you!” Fred hurries to add. “I mean, I was really curious to find out what I was going on over here! But now that I do, I want to do whatever I can to help you guys out!”  
“How can we trust you when you completely broke our trust and have admittedly been spying on us the entire time that you’ve known us?!” Hiro demands.  
“I know, I know!” Fred answers, feeling more and more panicked--oh gosh, he was actually going to get whacked for this and no one would even know what happened to him! Desperately, searching for something--anything--that might save his skin, “M-maybe I could be of use to you!”  
“What kind of use?” Tadashi asks before his brother can go off on another rage.  
“I-I don’t know,” Fred answers nervously. “I mean… What could I do that would be enough use to you that you won’t kill me?”  
“We don’t need anything, everything that we need is right here in this house,” Hiro tells him with a glare. “What could you possibly give us that we don’t already have?”  
Fred was frantic--what exactly was he supposed to do? In his panic, he blurts out the first thing that came to mind: “True love’s kiss!”  
“The hell are you talking about?” Hiro asks, raising an eyebrow.  
“You guys were saying that there’s this thing in fairytales where mermaids can become human if they can get a true love’s kiss, right?” Fred answers, letting his brain go on autopilot because even he wasn’t sure exactly where he was going with this. “That it’s the way to break a curse!”  
“Okay, first of all, Dashi is not cursed--he likes being mer, he just doesn’t want to be limited to this pool for the rest of his life,” Hiro answers flatly. “Secondly, he already tried the kiss thing, genius, and it didn’t work!”  
“Yeah, because we had only known each other for, like, five seconds!” Fred challenges. “There’s no way that someone could fall in love that fast! But who’s to say that something couldn’t happen if we did actually get to know each other and went out on a few dates or something? Maybe nothing would come of it, but it would be worth a try!”  
“...He does make a valid point,” Tadashi says, a look of deep concentration on his face.  
“You can’t actually be considering this!” Hiro cries, looking aghast. “You and this jerk-wad? Dashi, if you actually wanted to try this--there are countless other people you could choose from who would be a lot more qualified!”  
“To begin with, you’d never even let them get past the door, you’re so overprotective,” Tadashi replies before turning to the other man and, smiling slightly, adding, “Besides… I really like this one.”  
“R-Really?” Fred finds himself blushing under that intense chocolate gaze.  
“Definitely,” Tadashi agrees, grinning back at him with a hint of shyness.  
“Okay, this? This is insane!” Hiro groans. “Are you guys even listening to yourselves?”  
“If he’s willing to give it a try, so am I,” Tadashi replies firmly.  
“How do we explain this to Aunt Cass?”  
“We tell her the truth.”  
“Oh, and she’s totally going to love your new boyfriend when she finds out that he’s been spying on us for forever and lied to get a job here just so he could find out about our family secrets!”  
“I can talk to her,” Tadashi asserts. “I can be persuasive when I want to be!”  
“...You wouldn’t.”  
“Just for long enough for her to see that Fred isn’t a bad person!”  
“And how do you know that this guy isn’t a complete and total asshole?”  
"I don’t. But I trust him.”  
“Yeah, and you’d trust a shark if it gave you the right sob story!”  
“Oh lay off already! I’m almost eighteen , I’m old enough to make my own decisions!”  
“I don’t want you f*ing up your life just because of some stupid guy you happen to have a crush on! How do you even know you actually like him? It’s not like you’ve ever met anyone else outside of the family, so how could you even know what it feels like to like someone?”  
“That’s exactly my point! I don’t get to ever meet anyone outside of the family! This might be my only chance at this! Hiro, please… Even if there was the tiniest chance,that this might work, don’t you think we should give it a shot? ...Hiro?”  
“...I’m not going to look at you right now.”  
“Hiro, come on…”  
“No!” The younger boy shakes his head firmly, although it was already obvious that his resolve was slipping.  
“Hi~ro…” Tadashi’s voice went soft and musical, staring hard at the back of his brother’s head. “Look at me.”  
“You can’t make me do it!”  
“You know I can,” Tadashi answers with a slight smile.  
“Then you’re the worst nii-chan ever for trying to mess with my mind and control me!”  
“Otouto…” Tadashi says, his voice indicating hurt even though he was openly grinning. “Why would I ever try to control you?”  
“Just stop it, okay?”  
“Will you agree to be nice to Fred?”  
“...”  
“Either you can make the decision on your own, or I can make it for you.”  
“...Damn the freaking sirens in our family lineage!”  
“Is that a yes?” Tadashi asks, looking extremely pleased.  
“Fine, yes!” Hiro growls. “But it’s not okay for you to keep doing that!”  
“I wouldn’t have to if you weren’t so stubborn!”  
Okay, wow. Fred wasn’t sure exactly what he’d just witnessed, but apparently Tadashi had mind-controlling powers of some sort? He wasn’t sure if that was insanely cool or if he should be terrified--he decides to go with the former so that he didn’t end up having nightmares about this later.  
“So, we’re agreed,” Tadashi says cheerfully, looking over at Fred. “We’ll try dating and see what happens. If it works out, great. If not, well, I won’t keep you tied down and you’ll be free to move on with your life. Sound fair enough?”  
“That sounds… Reasonable,” Fred agrees with a nod, realizing that this was probably a better deal than he could have ever hoped for given the circumstances.  
“All right, fine,” Hiro grumbles. “But what do we do with him while the two of you are trying to see if your soulmates or whatever?”  
“I’m honestly not sure,” Tadashi admits. “I mean, the least suspicious thing would be to let him go home, right?”  
“But how do we know that he isn’t going to tell anyone?” Hiro presses before adding smugly, “Or that he’ll even bother coming back?”  
“Well…” Tadashi seems to be considering this. “Given my magic can last for up to twenty-four hours, I could make sure that he comes back every day and refresh it to ensure that he doesn’t tell anyone.”  
“That has its possibilities,” Hiro admits thoughtfully.  
“Wait, so… Like, you’d be putting me under a spell or something?” Fred asks, feeling slightly freaked out by the idea--sure, that was an awesome plot device in stories, but not something he’d ever wanted to go through himself!  
“I know it’s not the best way to start off a relationship,” Tadashi answers softly, turning those big brown soul-melting eyes on him. “But at least until we know for sure that we can trust you…”  
“O-okay.” Fred finds himself answering automatically, without even thinking about it. Oh gosh, Tadashi was apparently already working on him--what exactly was he getting himself into here?”  
“Good!” Tadashi beams, the expression so adorable that it momentarily wiped out all of Fred’s reservations. “Well then--I guess the first thing we need to do is get to know each other!”  
“I’m not sticking around for this,” Hiro says, rolling his eyes and starting to head towards the door of the cove. “Call me when the weird emotional stuff is over!”  
“Spoilsport,” Tadashi calls after him, but he laughs before turning to look at Fred, those gorgeous but extremely dangerous brown orbs fixing on him. “So,” he says softly.  
Fred gulps convulsively as he whispers back, “So…” He had no idea what exactly he’d gotten himself roped into, but he was beginning to be very much afraid that he might not make it out of this in one piece.  
"Hey," Tadashi says suddenly, gently reaching up and taking the fanboy's hands in his own. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, another cliffhanger! (Sorry, I'm horrible about doing those!) Can't wait to see you guys again next week to show you what happens next!


	4. Chapter 4

"H-Hurt me?" Fred stammers out nervously. "W-Why would I t-think that you'd hurt m-me?"

"Because you look like a goldfish that just got left in a tank with a hungry shark," Tadashi answers with a slight smile. "Seriously-I hope you know that all that stuff I said to Hiro was just to get him off our backs. If he didn't think I was going to be doing something to make sure that you didn't spill the secret, he never would have let you left the house-at least not alive, anyways."

"So… you're saying that you're not going to use your magical mer powers or whatever to make me come back every day?" Fred asks, wanting to make sure that he was hearing this right.

"Of course not!" Tadashi answers, looking slightly offended by the question. "I'd never do something like that to someone! I never even actually use them-well, except on Hiro sometimes when he's being a little sh*t, but even then I try to avoid it as much as possible."

"Oh, okay, phew!" Fred can't help but let out a long sigh of relief before asking, "But-why do you trust me? I mean, how do you know I'm not going to go leak your secret to the entire world the minute I'm outside the gates?"

"Well, for one thing, I don't know who'd actually believe you!" Tadashi chuckles warmly before squeezing his hand and adding, "And… I don't know why, but for some reason, I just trust you."

"A terrible idea, really," Fred responds, grinning slightly.

"You've seen Tangled!" Tadashi cries, looking delighted.

"Are you kidding me? I can practically quote the entire thing!" Fred answers proudly.

"Prove it!" Tadashi challenges.

"All right, give me a line-any line-and I'll finish it!"

"All right, if you say so! Hm, let's see… Okay, here's a good one: 'We made it!'"

"Her hair glows!" Fred tosses back, pretending to be completely freaking out.

"We're alive-we're alive!"

"I did not see that coming!"

"Eugene."

"The hair actually glows!"

"Eugene."

"Why does her hair glow?!"

"Eugene!"

"WHAT?!"

"It doesn't just… glow."

"...Why is he smiling at me?!"

"Oh my gosh, nice!" Tadashi laughs, giving Fred an approving grin. "You really do know your stuff!"

"I consider myself a very active Disney nerd, yes," Fred agrees, smiling right back-he could already feel the tension from earlier easily melting away like sugar when it came in contact with water.

"That's awesome-so am I!" Tadashi chuckles.

"Really?" Fred's eyes light up eagerly. "What else are you into?"

"Um, well, I love to read-pretty much anything I can get my hands on, really, but I do have a soft spot for manga and comics."

"You speak my language!" Fred shouts ecstatically.

"Really? You too?" Tadashi asks, looking like he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

"Definitely! I've been obsessed with superheroes practically since I was born!" Fred answers.

"Wow! This is…" Tadashi says, shaking his head slightly.

"Insane?" Fred offers.

"Unbelievable," Tadashi finishes, grinning up at him.

"Totally," Fred agrees.

"Okay, I would start quizzing you on all of your favorite superheroes," Tadashi says with an eager smile. "But first-"

"What?" Fred asks curiously.

"I am getting a serious crick in my neck having to keep looking up at you," Tadashi admits with a slight laugh. "Mind scooting over a little to your left?"

"All right," Fred agrees, somewhat confused by doing as requested.

A moment later, Tadashi's gripping the edge of the stone ledge and then he's heaving himself up out of the water.

"There, much better," he says, grinning over at Fred as he settles next to him, his tail flapping gracefully out over the water.

Fred, for his part, was finding it extremely difficult to breathe. It was one thing to see Tadashi when he was in the water and he was looking down at him. But it was quite another to have him right here sitting next to him, so close that he could actually touch him if he wanted to-and he definitely wanted to, although he was trying to have self control. His lightly muscled arms and chest were even more gorgeous up close, and since Tadashi turned out to actually be slightly taller than him, now he was looking up into those heart-melting eyes and the effect was even more pronounced. A part of him was sure that he was going to actually swoon like one of those ladies in one of those old fashioned movies.

"Hey, you okay?" Tadashi asks, looking slightly concerned.

"F-Fine!" Fred gasps, hoping that his blushing wasn't too obvious.

"It's the tail, isn't it?" Tadashi asks with a wry smile, misinterpreting the signs. "Does it… freak you out that much?"

"What? No, it's gorgeous!" Fred cries and then, because his mouth didn't have a proper filter, he adds, "You're gorgeous…"

Tadashi blushes bright pink, biting his bottom lip to keep from grinning too much. "You're not too bad yourself," he says quietly.

"Are you kidding?" Fred cries. "You look like a frickin' demigod-heck, you could be a demigod! I'm just… some stupid nerd no one really cares about…"

"Hey." Tadashi looks concerned as he reaches over and squeezes his hand softly. "I'll be honest, I don't know exactly what you've been through, but there's no reason you should sell yourself short. I'm sorry that some total dicks apparently hurt you by saying things which were obviously totally untrue about you, and I wish I could do something to make them take those things back, but sadly I can't. If it helps at all, though... I kind of know how you feel."

"How?" Fred asks. "I mean, have you ever been stuffed into a locker or thrown into a dumpster by jocks before?"

"No," Tadashi answers quietly. "But I've had to spend my entire life in this stupid room because there are people out there who don't even think of me as a person and would either want to experiment on me until I died or just outright destroy me for being a 'freak'."

"O-oh…" Fred feels a wave of guilt at that. "I-I'm sorry… I guess I can't complain given my life hasn't been that bad…"

"We've both been through some major crap, and neither of our suffering discounts the other's," Tadashi answers firmly. "I think the important thing now is that maybe we can help each other."

"Yeah?" Fred asks, smiling slightly.

"Totally," Tadashi agrees firmly.

"So, um…" Fred says after about a minute of companionable silence. "You mentioned reading… Is it okay to ask how you do that considering, y'know, the fact that you live in water and that water and paper don't really go together?"

"Oh, that's easy," Tadashi answers with a grin that could almost be described as eager. "Hiro and I developed a waterproofing spray years ago!"

"A… waterproofing spray?" Fred asks curiously.

"Yep!" Tadashi agrees. "Hiro saw that I couldn't get to enjoy a lot of things because most objects don't react well to being underwater for long periods of time. So he came up with the idea of creating a spray that could be used to make almost anything water safe so that my room wouldn't be so empty and we could share more stuff."

"Your room?" Fred questions-maybe he was asking too many questions, but this was downright fascinating.

"Yeah," Tadashi answers. "It's down at the bottom of the pool. I've kind of got something of a small apartment down there considering that's where I spend most of my time, except when I go topside for lessons or to spend time with the family. Hiro can spend time down there with me because, since he's got mer blood too, he can stay underwater for extended periods of time. He can't breathe underwater, and he's still able to be somewhat affected by mer magic, but he can hold his breath for, like, a half an hour at a time and he's always been a naturally good swimmer. You probably noticed how strong he was earlier even though he's kind of on the skinny side-that comes from spending so much time at the bottom of the pool with me in a kind of high-pressure environment. His muscles acclimated to being under those conditions, so when he's out of the water, his strength is really high in comparison."

"I see," Fred says, processing all of this new information. It honestly did explain a lot of things.

"But I'm getting off track," Tadashi says with a slight smile. "I think we were talking about the waterproofing spray? Basically, when Hiro saw how empty it was down there, he wanted to make it more comfortable for me, so he got to work finding a way to solve the problem. We started brainstorming and finally came up with the idea of the spray. It took a lot of trial and error to get it right, but finally we did, and it's really, really nice having an actual home down there instead of just bare concrete and a few pieces of plastic furniture like it used to be. We even got to work on waterproofing electronics a little while ago so I can finally have access to the internet without having to pull myself out of the water and borrow Hiro's laptop every time I wanted to look something up."

"That… That is so COOL!" Fred cries ecstatically. "I-I can't even imagine ever coming up with something so amazing! How did you ever manage it?"

"Oh, Hiro and I love inventing-it's pretty much as natural to us as… Well, as swimming is to a fish," Tadashi answers with a wry grin. "The waterproofing spray isn't even one of our top-ten inventions!"

"Wow…" Fred stares at him starry eyed for a moment before asking, "Dang, if you guys are so smart and are coming up with all this great stuff, why aren't you already rich and famous or something?"

"Well, we tried when we were younger," Tadashi answers, frowning slightly. "Hiro had this really cool invention he came up with called microbots-you could control them with a headband which was actually a neurocranial transmitter, and they'd do anything you told them to do. We'd worked on them together, and we were super excited about them. Aunt Cass even helped us manage to get an appointment with Krei Tech to show them the bots, and the company sounded pretty excited about them. But when Hiro got to the interview, they wouldn't even look at them!" Tadashi's eyes flash with anger. "They just saw Hiro as a 'dumb kid' and laughed him right out of the board room, telling him that they weren't interested in his 'toys'."

"That is completely f*ed up!" Fred cries, feeling slightly angry himself.

"It is," Tadashi sighs, looking slightly resigned. "But it's what happens-we're too young, and people think that unless you have a college degree, that you're not good for anything and you can't be taken seriously. That's why…" He trails off, biting his lip and looking like he'd said too much.

"That's why what?" Fred gently plies.

"That's why… That's why it's my dream to go to SFIT," Tadashi finally answers quietly.

"The Institute of Technology?" Fred asks. He was familiar with the university-his dad tended to hire a lot of his employees as graduates from the various programs there which were supposed to be the best in the nation.

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees, looking thoroughly dejected. "I want to go there so I can learn more and so that people will actually take me and Hiro seriously and we can finally start our dream company, Hamada Bros inc. But… That's pretty much just a pipe dream, right? I mean, what university would accept a student who's half fish?" He flaps the end of his tail to prove his point.

"I see," Fred says quietly. It was breaking his heart to see someone so amazing as Tadashi hurting so badly, and he wished there was something he could do to help him. Well-maybe there was! Okay, so falling in love with someone just to fulfill their dream wasn't necessarily a healthy way to start a relationship. And he didn't even know if you could force yourself to fall in love with someone for any reason, good or bad. But wasn't love about wanting to help someone and being willing to do whatever it took to make them happy? Maybe it was way too early to tell, but that's exactly what he wanted right now-to make Tadashi as happy as he deserved to be. And if there was any possible way that this might work-  
"Tadashi," Fred declares, a determined look in his eyes as he gently squeezes the other man's hands. "We are going to get you that true love's kiss, and then we are getting you into SFIT!"

"R-really?" Tadashi asks, looking extremely doubtful but a tiny bit of hope shining in his eyes.

"Absolutely!" Fred agrees firmly. "You can count on me, I will do absolutely everything in my power to make sure that your dream comes true, or my name isn't Frederick Daniel Lee!"

"This is probably the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me..." Tadashi says softly, staring down at him with those gorgeous brown orbs.

"Well, if we're going to be boyfriends, I need to do whatever I can to make you happy!" Fred tells him.

"Do-Do you actually want to be boyfriends?" Tadashi asks with a hopeful smile.

"Hell yeah!" Fred answers before quickly adding, "I mean, unless you don't want to-in which case I completely understand, I just thought maybe-"

His rambling is cut short by a pair of soft, salty-tasting yet surprisingly sweet lips pressing against his.

"Yes," he hears Tadashi whisper before pulling him back in for another kiss.

Even as he melts under the contact, Fred feels his resolve stiffening. He was going to get his new boyfriend-his amazing, gorgeous new boyfriend-into SFIT, if it was the last thing he did. After all, how hard could it be?


	5. Chapter 5

After that, the guys fell comfortably into talking about any and everything under the sun. Fred was, of course, fascinated to learn anything he could about what it was like being mer, and he found Tadashi's descriptions of the various inventions that the two brothers had come up with over the years just about as equally engaging. It was incredibly adorable to him as well how Tadashi had so many questions about the outside world and things which he took for granted completely fascinated him. He did, of course, know most of the basics and important things thanks to having a mostly human family and being regularly exposed to human media. But he was so eager to know things like what it felt like to ride a bicycle or have a picnic in the park when all the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. All of them seemed like fairly basic questions, but Fred found himself stretching his imagination and vocabulary to try to answer the seemingly never-ending stream of them.

As they went along, Fred couldn't help but find the initial awe of actually being there, sitting next to a real-life merman wearing off. It was still something that was there in the edges of his consciousness, but as he talked to Tadashi he found himself sometimes completely forgetting that he wasn't just talking to any other guy. All right, an admittedly a really cute guy, but still! Tadashi was, honestly, really just a regular person at heart, with his own quirks and flaws (like how he would always punctuate an exclamatory sentence by slapping the water lightly with his tail and how he would always push Fred for more and more details about things until he honestly couldn't think of anything more he could possibly add to his description), but the fanboy was beginning to discover that he liked this version of Tadashi just as much, if not more, than the gorgeous fantasy he'd first become enamored with. He was honestly worried that, as the novelty of being around a human outside of his family wore off, that Tadashi would start to lose interest in him, but instead Tadashi seemed just as engaged in the conversation hours later as he had been when they first started talking-

Wait, hours?! Fred gasps as he checks the time on his phone. He hadn't realized just how long he'd been in here and, more importantly, how late it had gotten!

Tadashi seemed to have reached the same conclusion at the same time as he leans over to see the clock displayed on the fanboy's phone.

"Oh my gosh, you have to go!" Tadashi cries, his eyes going wide with panic.

"Or what? You'll turn into a pumpkin?" Fred jokes, although he was definitely concerned by the tone of the elder Hamada's voice.

"Wrong fairy tale, and NO!" Tadashi cries, lightly flicking the end of his tail to spray him with water droplets but his facial expression completely serious. "My aunt is supposed to be getting back any time now! She always comes in to check on my after work, and we can't let her find you here!"

"Weren't you, y'know-supposed to talk to her?" Fred asks.

"Yes, but talking to her and gradually warming her up to the idea is one thing!" Tadashi answers. "It's something completely different for her to come in here and just find you with me! She might go completely ballistic before I even have a chance to explain!"

"She seems pretty laid back…" Fred notes, feeling slightly nervous now. "Are you sure she wouldn't just be fine with it?"

"She'd laid back unless she thinks someone is hurting her family!" Tadashi answers sharply. "Seriously, we need to get you out of here no-"

"Tadashi?"

"Oh gosh…" Tadashi freezes as he hears his aunt's voice. "Oh, this is so not good…" he moans before turning to Fred and asking, "Can you swim?"

"What?" Fred replies, his brain not processing the question-Tadashi's panic was extremely contagious and he was silently beginning to feel very freaked out as well.

"Can you swim?" Tadashi repeats.

"N-no…" Fred admits, feeling his cheeks turning bright red at having to admit it. "I-it's kind of a long story…"

"We don't have time for long stories," Tadashi groans as he sees his aunt's silhouette against the waterfall. "I was hoping you could sneak out of here by going underwater… Oh gosh, we are doomed…."

"Tadashi? Tadashi sweetie, are you in there?" Aunt Cass calls from outside the cave.

"We are not 'doomed'," Fred whispers to Tadashi,squeezing his hand and trying to sound as brave as he can, given the circumstances. "We are going to get through this together, okay?"

"O-okay…" Tadashi answers, flashing him a semblance of a smile-apparently it was the best he could muster-before calling back, "Y-yeah, Aunt Cass… Y-you can come in..."

A moment later Aunt Cass ducks under the waterfall and comes in, shaking her head to clear off the water, which miraculously seemed to shed right off like it would off of a water fowl's feathers ( _Huh, must be a mer thing_ , Fred's brain manages observe in spite of the seriousness of the moment.)

"Oh my goodness, you would not believe the day I had at the cafe," the older woman says, apparently not noticing yet the fact that there was an intruder in the cove. "Ms. Matsuda came in today with one of her boyfriends, and wouldn't you know it, while they were there, another one of her boyfriends came in, and I swear, I thought that there was going to be an actual full on… brawl…"

Her voice trails off as she finally registers Fred's presence, her eyes going wide and a hand instinctively reaching up to cover her mouth. "O-oh my… W-what… What are you doing in he-" she starts to stammer out, only for Tadashi to cut her off.

"It was my fault!" he cries.

"It was what?" Aunt Cass and Fred exclaim at the same time.

"I-I'm responsible for this," Tadashi hurries on quickly, moving protectively between Fred and his aunt. "I'm sorry Aunt Cass. I was working on a project and I kind of got wrapped up in a really good song, and when I came above water to grab a screwdriver I'd left up here, I forgot to stop singing and Fred was working out in the study and heard me and you know what my singing does to people-"

"Hold on!" Fred cuts in sharply, seeing the vaguely horrified look on Aunt Cass' face. "That is totally not what happened!" He stands up to address her-he was scared that his legs wouldn't actually hold him, but he had to try. Not only did he not want Tadashi getting in trouble for his actions, but he knew that if they lied now, Hiro would be more than happy to give Aunt Cass the real story later, so it was better to be honest right upfront.

"I'm the only one who's to blame here," he continues shakily. "I… I took the job here because I live down the street from you and I've always wanted to know what was going on in this place. I-it was totally wrong of me, but it was driving me crazy not knowing and I was so tired of being stuck alone in my own home all summer that I thought I could try to find out what was happening, so when I heard that you needed a houseboy, I applied in hopes that I could solve the mystery. And I did, and I'd be lying if I said that I was sorry that I found out because if I hadn't I never would have known that merpeople were actually real and I never would have met Tadashi. But the way that I went about it was totally wrong, and I know sorry doesn't even begin to cover what I've done, breaking your trust when you've been nothing but kind to me, but I really, truly am… A-and… And I completely understand if you want to get me thrown in jail or ban me from ever coming back or whatever else you want to do, because I completely deserve it…"

"I see…" is all Aunt Cass says, her expression unreadable as she stares at the pair but the intensity of her gaze making Fred feel about two inches tall as he awaits his fate.

"Please," Tadashi pipes up softly, reaching over to grab Fred's hand and wrapping one of his own around it. "Aunt Cass-I know you're mad, but please, please don't take it out on Fred. I…. He's the first person outside of you guys and my teacher that I've ever even gotten to meet… And he isn't freaked out or disgusted by the fact that I'm mer and if he wanted to hurt me, he would have done it a long time ago. He's a really, really nice person and… I like him. A lot. So please, don't make him leave…"

Well, if nothing else, Fred thinks, the last thing he would ever hear before he got murdered in a fit of righteous rage would be this gorgeous man trying to defend him. And that was definitely something he could carry into the afterlife with him-or, at least he hoped he could.

"I… This is a lot to process," Aunt Cass finally says, kneading her forehead with her fingers like she was experiencing a major headache. "Fred… What you did was wrong. Very wrong. And you're right, I could definitely have you thrown in prison or at least press serious charges given everything you've done."

"Y-yes ma'am," Fred agree meekly, his heart sinking all the way down into his shoes.

"Unfortunately," Aunt Cass continues quietly, "given the situation, we are at a bit of an impasse. The last thing we need is detectives and lawyers and who knows who all else poking around in here, plus we risk the possibility that you might reveal our secret if I did."

"I would never-" Fred starts to protest just as Tadashi says, "He wouldn't-" but Aunt Cass cuts them both off.

"I do not know Fred well enough to make that judgement," she says sternly. "I thought I did, but given today, I have my serious doubts. Still…" She pauses to take a deep breath. "As it is, Tadashi is right. If you actually did want to expose us, this would have been all over the internet before I even got home, or Tadashi would be gone-or worse."

"So… You're saying that you will trust me?" Fred asks meekly, not daring to get his hopes up yet.

"I'm saying that, for right now, I don't seem to have much of a choice," Aunt Cass replies, giving him a severe look. "That does not mean that I am ready to forgive you yet. And you are going to have to work very hard to regain what you've lost."

"I'll do anything to do that!" Fred hurries to reassure her. "Seriously, just name it! I would literally climb all the way to the top of Mount Everest-twice!-wearing nothing but a pair of socks if that would make you believe that I really don't want to do anything to hurt Tadashi or your family!"

The corners of Aunt Cass' lips twitch upwards slightly at that, although she quickly regains her composure. "As it is, only time will tell," she says firmly. "I'm going to be keeping an eye on you to see if you really do mean what you say. And if I ever, _ever_ have the slightest inkling that you are trying to hurt either of my boys or that you are trying to reveal our secret, I will do whatever it takes to protect my family. Understood?"

"Y-yes ma'am," Fred answers, swallowing convulsively under her intense glare.

"So…" Tadashi says slowly. "Does this mean… Does this mean that Fred can come back?"

"I really can't think of any other way to make sure that he's being true to his word," Aunt Cass sighs. "If he's here, at least I or one of the servants can keep an eye on him for most of the day. And I honestly don't really feel like going through the process of trying to find another houseboy after all of this…"

"Oh my gosh!" Fred gasps, feeling like an enormous weight had just been lifted off of his chest. "T-thank you… You have no idea how much this means to me…"

" _Doumo arigatou gozaimasu!_ " Tadashi adds, grinning over at him.

"W-Will I be allowed to come visit Tadashi?" Fred asks hopefully. "After I finish all of my work for the day, of course!"

"Please, Aunt Cass?" Tadashi begs, giving her what Fred could only describe as the best puppydog eyes he'd ever seen (he seriously could almost literally see him as a tiny, abandoned puppy, they were that good.)

"Somehow I imagine that even if I said 'no', you two would find a way to do it," Aunt Cass says with a slight sigh and, for the first time, she finally allows a small smile onto her face. "So yes, I'll give you my permission, but on condition. Fred, you will keep up your end of the bargain and get all of your housework done first. Then you will be allowed to come see Tadashi, but _only_ if Hiro or I are here to supervise."

"Understood," Fred agrees. It was a much better deal than he could have ever hoped for, and he wasn't quite sure he wasn't actually dreaming at the moment.

"Thank you, Aunt Cass!" Tadashi cries, leaning over to wrap his arms around her legs in the best hug he could manage given his position.

"Don't thank me yet," Aunt Cass replies, obviously trying not to show too much emotion. "Fred still has to prove to me that he's telling the truth, and I will be watching him _very_ carefully until then."

"I swear, I won't let you down," Fred tells her fervently.

"We shall see," Aunt Cass coolly, although there was just a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"As it is," she adds, glancing down at her watch, "I do believe that it's time for you to be heading home. I don't want anyone coming to search for you as that would certainly raise suspicions that we can't afford."

"Y-yes ma'am," Fred agrees with a respectful nod.

"I will walk you to the door, and then I expect you to head straight home after this," Aunt Cass tells him, giving him a stern look.

"Yes ma'am," Fred repeats. He glances down at Tadashi, who's looking up at him with a slightly disappointed expression on his face, probably mirroring his own. With Aunt Cass standing there, there was no chance of a decent goodbye, or at least not of the sort they wanted. Still, Fred was walking out of here in one piece and as a free man, which was more than he could have even hoped for, so, putting on the best smile he could muster, he gently squeezes Tadashi's hand, he says, "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," Tadashi agrees, squeezing back before reluctantly letting go.

Fred waves goodbye before following Aunt Cass back under the waterfall and out of the room.

It was a silent walk to the front door. Aunt Cass seemed to be caught up in her own thoughts, and Fred didn't dare say anything for fear that he'd manage to somehow royally screw things up and be told that he was never allowed back. Still, as she opens the front door for him, the older woman turns to him and says civilly enough, "I'll see you in the morning, I trust?"

"Yes ma'am-bright and early," Fred promises.

"All right then. Have a good evening."

"S-same to you," Fred replies before the door closes behind him and he lets out a huge sigh of relief. He was still breathing. He wasn't going to jail. As horribly as this all could have turned out, he needed to just be grateful and promise himself that he would never, _ever_ meddle in someone else's affairs like this again. If something was being kept a secret, there was probably a good reason for it, and he didn't need to go invading someone else's privacy any more than he would want someone invading his.

Still… As he reaches the gate at the edge of the yard and unlocks it with his key, letting himself out, he can't help but grin slightly. A merman. He had met a freaking merman! And now they were _dating_! How crazy was that?! And it wasn't just the whole, "Oh gosh, I'm dating a mythical being!" thing either. He honestly was starting to like Tadashi just as that-Tadashi-not just because he was gorgeous (and he was!) and had a friggin' fish tail which was totally sexy. Despite all the drama and the whole "possibly almost dying if the enraged family had chosen to murder him" thing, it had been a completely amazing day by Fred's standards-heck, probably by almost any nerd's standards! And, with any luck, tomorrow would be even better!

_Hey!_

_Hello? Who is this? I don't have you as a contact._

_It's me, Tadashi!  
T-Tadashi?! What the heck, how did you get my number?!_

_Managed to get it off of Aunt Cass' phone at dinner when she wasn't looking. :)_

_Oh my gosh! This is awesome!_

_IKR? Now we can totally talk whenever we want!_

_Definitely! Just…_

_?_

_It's been a really, really long day… Like, majorly awesome! And terrifying at parts. Mostly awesome, though! But… Yeah. I can pretty much barely keep my eyes open right now, and I have to be over there early to start cleaning the East Wing…_

_Say no more! You go get some sleep in so you don't fall asleep and accidentally knock over a statue or something while you're mopping! ;)_

_Thx! You're the best!_

_I know. ;P_

_LOL XD Good night, Tadashi! Sweet dreams!_

' _Night Fred!_

_Oh, Fred?_

_Fred?_

_Zzzzzz…_

_*kiss* Good night. 3_


	6. Chapter 6

"YOU!"

Fred is startled by a sudden voice behind him the next morning as he's working on cleaning one of the guest chambers in the East Wing. He's so startled, in fact, that he accidentally knocks over the bucket of soapy water he'd been using to mop the floor, and he cringes as he watches it slosh out across the stone tiles, completely undoing all the work that he'd just done. Still, that wasn't half so frightening as what he turns to find the source of the sudden exclamation and sees Hiro standing in the doorway, a look of almost murderous rage on his face.

"U-um… Hi?" Fred squeaks, unintentionally clutching the mop tighter for whatever little protection it might offer him, although he knew it would do little to deter the little fireball who looked like he was preparing to take him apart, limb by limb.

"How did you do it?" Hiro growls, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"How did I do what?" Fred asks timidly.

"Don't play dumb with me! What the hell did you do to get Aunt Cass to allow you to come back here?!" Hiro demands. "You couldn't have bribed her off, she wouldn't go for that. So what did you do? Did you threaten her? Slip some drugs into her tea?"

"What? No!" Fred cries in disbelief. "I'd never-"

"Then what was it?!"

"Dude, why do you always assume the worst about me?!" Fred asks, beginning to feel defensive. .

"Because you haven't given me any reason not to!"

"What about innocent until proven guilty?"

"I caught you after you'd broken into the one place in the house we specifically told you not to go, _kissing_ my brother! I'd say that more than counts as guilty!"

"All right, granted," Fred sighs, his shoulder sagging. "And I know now that that was wrong, and while I've apologized to Tadashi and your aunt, I haven't apologized to you yet, so let me go ahead that I really and truly am sorry for breaking your trust like that. But I swear, I mean your family no harm and I just want to do whatever I can to help you out!"

"Maybe we don't need your 'help'," Hiro answers angrily. "Maybe things are fine as they are and we don't want you coming in and trying to mess things up!"

"Tadashi didn't seem to think that everything was 'fine' yesterday," Fred replies a little hotly. "He was willing to kiss a total stranger because he was so desperate to get out of that freakin' pool!"

"That's because you were putting stupid, dangerous ideas in his head! He never talked about that kind of stuff before!" Hiro argues.

"Maybe that's because he didn't have any hope of getting out of there before," Fred answers, frustration beginning to slip into his tone. "Or maybe he just didn't want to risk upsetting you!"

"Upsetting me? Upsetting me how?" Hiro asks suspiciously.

"You don't see it?"

"See _what_?!"

"Everything Tadashi's doing, he's doing to try to make you happy! Mer, human, whatever! The main reason he wants to be human is so he can start that company with you! And if he stays mer, it's because you can't accept change and he doesn't want to upset you! Why can't you be willing to do let him do something for himself for once? Or are you really that selfish?!"

"I AM NOT SELFISH, I AM TRYING TO LOOK OUT FOR MY BROTHER AND KEEP HIM SAFE FROM CREEPY PERVERTS LIKE YOU WHO JUST WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HIM!"  
Fred almost snapped at that but, fortunately, he just barely manages to reign himself back in. "...You know what? Forget it," he growls. "Look, I have a job to do-a job your Aunt _hired_ and still expects me to do-and I plan on keeping my promise this time. It's part of my way of earning back her trust, something you might not understand, but do you think you can at least let me get back to work instead of harrassing me?"

"...Fine," Hiro finally respond coldly. "Clean if you want. But you're not getting Tadashi, no matter what evil schemes you might have up your sleeve. He's my brother and I will protect him, got it?!"

As soon as he's sure that the younger boy is out of hearing range, Fred lets out a growl of frustration. Seriously, what was _up_ with this kid?! Why did he hate him so much? They'd only just met, for gosh sakes! Fred angrily shoves the mop across the floor. Well, if nothing else, he had a lot of chores to help him burn off steam. And despite what Hiro said, he was going to see Tadashi again as soon as he was done for the day, and no one and nothing was going to stop him.

_Fred?_

_Fred, when are you coming to see me?_

_Sorry Tadashi-I'd be in there right now if I could, but I can't find Hiro to get him to unlock the door for me._

_Have you tried texting him? I can give you his number if you don't have it-or maybe I could text him!_

_You can try, yeah. But he isn't responding to any of my texts._

_Gah, what's up with him? He was in here for most of the day, but then about an hour ago he disappeared and he hasn't been back since! It's like he randomly decided to leave right before you finished with work. Weird._

_Yeah… weird._

_Maybe I could let you in?_

_...How?_

_I don't know. I could pull myself out of the pool and manage to make my way over?_

_Tadashi, no. You'll end up hurting yourself. Seriously, you aunt should be home soon and we can see each other then, okay?_

_But… :( All right, fine… Doesn't mean I like it._

_I don't either, but there's not much we can do. :/_

_Maybe you could try and see if the door's unlocked again?_

_I gave your aunt my word that I wouldn't be in there with you without supervision. If I'm ever going to get your aunt to trust me, I can't even attempt a break-in._

_*Sigh* Fine, have it your way. But you'll have to make it up to me later._

_What exactly do you mean by "making it up to you"?_

_Some light kissing would be nice._

_If that's what you want, I'm not going to say "no" to that!_

_Yay! ^w^ Now I have something to look forward to! 3 Maybe waiting won't be so long if I get a reward like that for it!_

_You're spoiled, you know that?_

_Pft, yeah right! ;) (And maybe if you weren't so willing to spoil me…)_

_Just for that, maybe I won't kiss you tonight._

_...NO! You promised! :(_

_You going to behave yourself?_

_...Yes._

_Okay then. Look, better stop texting before someone sees me and thinks I'm trying to alert the local news or something. Talk to you in a little bit?_

_Sounds good! :) See you in a little bit! 3_

Fred lets out a slight sigh, leaning his head back against the wall. He knew that Hiro's sudden "disappearance" hadn't been any coincidence. The teen had obviously purposefully hidden, knowing that if he wasn't there then Fred couldn't get in to see Tadashi. A simple yet extremely effective plan. Well, make that an extremely annoying and almost infuriating plan. Still, Fred wasn't about to rat the younger boy out to the elder Hamada. He still hoped that maybe he could win him over eventually, so for now he'd let him play his little games in hopes that he'd eventually get tired of them. And until then, he'd just have to be patient. It wasn't like he didn't have a whole morning's worth of Tumblr feed to catch up on, after all!

He's so caught up in checking the latest posts that he doesn't even hear Aunt Cass coming up the hallway until she's right in front of him.

"Well," she says, looking slightly surprised as she comes to a stop. "What are you doing out here? I thought you'd be inside with Tadashi by now!"

"I-I would have been," Fred agrees, quickly putting his phone away and standing up. "But I-ah, I couldn't find Hiro, y'know, to unlock the door for me? And I figured he was probably pretty busy with something if he'd forgotten and, if it was that big of deal, that it really wouldn't be fair for him to be dragged into being a chaperone this afternoon, so I'd just wait for you to get home. After all, you told me I wasn't supposed to go in to visit Tadashi without one of you being there, right? And there's no way I was going to go breaking any more rules!"  
"I see." Aunt Cass looks at him with an almost unreadable expression on her face that looked vaguely approving as she presses her thumb to the door reader. "In that case, thank you for being patient. Would you like to come in with me to say hello now?"

"That would be great!" Fred agrees, trying not to sound too eager.

"Well then, come on!" Aunt Cass says, opening the door and waving for Fred to follow her.

"Thank you!" Fred has to forcefully keep himself from literally skipping into the room, and work just as hard not to full-on sprint for the cove, instead matching Aunt Cass' relaxed, steady gate. Still, the entire way, his heart keeps beating _Tadashi, Tadashi, Tadashi!_

It turned out that Tadashi was a lot less patient than even Fred was. Almost moments after the two enter the room, the elder Hamada brother surfaces at the edge of the pool closest to them, apparently either unwilling or unable to wait for them to actually get into the cove.

"Fred!" he cries, waving eagerly.

"H-hey!" Fred answers, his heart skipping a beat-oh gosh, not only was Tadashi even cuter than he remembered, but hearing him calling his name like that…

"And where's my 'hello'?" Aunt Cass asks, putting her hands on her hips and acting playfully annoyed.

"Sorry Aunt Cass," Tadashi apologizes, wrapping his arms around her legs in a quick hug. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good," Aunt Cass answers, gently ruffling her nephew's hair in an extremely loving manner. "We didn't have any major catastrophes or coffee-relate brawls breaking out, so I count it a fairly successful day!"

"That's always a good thing, yes," Tadashi agrees with a smile.

"How about you, kiddo? Have a good day?"

"Meh. Kind of boring, but I had getting to see Fred again to look forward to, so that helped!"

"All right, I can take a hint," Aunt Cass laughs. "Tell you what-I need to go get supper started. Think you'll be okay in here for a minute or two until I can find Hiro and send him in to keep an eye on things?"

"Of course!" Tadashi replies, looking downright delighted by the prospect.

"No funny business," Aunt Cass says warningly, although she appears to be smiling slightly as she heads back towards the door.

"Whoa-she's actually trusting me to be alone with you?" Fred gasps, feeling slightly shocked as he watches her retreating form.

"Well, we talked about it last night," Tadashi answers, "and I told her about everything that happened. Which by the way, yes, I mean actually talked, no magic involved. And while she's not fully willing to give you a free pass yet, I think you're well on your way to receiving redemption."

"That is fantastic!" Fred cries eagerly before blushing and asking, "W-wait, when you say 'everything'..."

"Yeah, pretty much everything," Tadashi admits with a slightly embarrassed smile. "And… Overall, she's actually pretty okay with us dating. She still wants to keep an eye on you for a while to make sure that you're keeping your word, but for the most part she seems to approve. Although…." He frowns slightly as he adds, "she said not to get our hopes up too much about the whole 'true love's kiss' thing-that it's just a fairy tale and she doesn't want either of us getting false hopes or whatever."

"I… I can see that," Fred says quietly. "She just doesn't want you to get hurt if it doesn't work. But, u-um… Even if it doesn't work… Would you still want to date me?"

"Would you still want to date someone who's half fish and waterbound?" Tadashi asks, sounding slightly self-deprecating.

"Of course!" Fred answers firmly, reaching over to squeeze the other teen's hands in his own. "I think you're absolutely amazing just the way you are! And the whole tail thing? It's actually kind of-no, really, really attractive…"

"Aw, really?" Tadashi asks, a grin making its way onto his face.

"T-totally," Fred agrees. Oh gosh that smile could still completely take his breath away….

"Y'know," Tadashi adds, reaching out to gently tug on Fred's hand to bring him closer to his level. "You still owe me from earlier…"

"I-I guess I do," Fred agrees, his cheeks turning bright pink at what Tadashi was suggesting.

"So-are you going to pay up or not?" Tadashi says playfully.

"U-um… A-are you sure now is the right time?" Fred stammers.

"You don't want to?" Tadashi asks, looking slightly hurt.

"No, I definitely want to!" Fred hurries to reassure him. "Just… Maybe I want to a little too much, if you know what I mean… Like, if I'm going to be dating you and we want to try to get you true love's kiss and all that, maybe we should be careful not to get too physical before we really get to know each other better?"

"A true gentleman," Tadashi says somewhat playfully although his smile is genuine. "All right, I can go with that. Sorry if I'm seeming too forward. But you know the kind of rep mers have when it comes to 'romance' and, well… I'm not exactly an exception to the rule. Not that I would ever lure someone to a watery grave or anything, that is so not me! Just… You should probably be warned up front… If I want something, then there's a decent chance I'm going to find a way to get it one way or the other. Even if cognitively I don't want to, when instincts kick in…"

"Hey." Fred gently squeezes his hands. "I trust you. The Tadashi I see-the one I'm getting to know-would never purposefully do something to hurt anyone. And I think he's strong enough to fight off any urges that would potentially harm anyone he really cared about."

"And if I'm not?" Tadashi asks quietly.

"Well… I believe you are, and even if not, chances are, if you're at that point, I will be too. Like, ask my consent, definitely. But hopefully before this even becomes an issue we'll be far enough along that we'll both be ready for something like that, and when the times comes, we'll both know it's right and be willing to mutually agree to it."

"You make it sound so easy," Tadashi says softly.

"You are more than you instincts, Tadashi," Fred answers firmly. "I know that they're a part of you, and I would never change that. But if something about them has you worried or is making you unhappy, then you totally have the right and even a responsibility to yourself to take control of them. Plus, you should give yourself more credit than you are. I think you're a lot stronger than you're letting yourself believe."

"Well… For both of our sake's then," Tadashi responds with a tiny smile. "I'll do my best to keep them under control."

"That's all anyone can ask," Fred agrees.

"Do I even want to know what you two are talking about?" a slightly disgusted-sounding voice asks.

"Hiro!" Tadashi cries, turning towards the source. "There you are! Where did you go? You completely disappeared earlier!"

"Yeah, sorry about that, nii-chan," Hiro answers, putting on an innocent look that Fred could see right through. "I went to lie down for a little while, and I accidentally fell asleep."  
"Lie down? Are you not feeling okay?" Tadashi asks, looking concerned.

"I just wasn't feeling too good," Hiro replies. "But I'm a lot better now!" Glancing over at Fred and flashing him a quick glare, he adds, "Isn't it about time for you to head home?"

"Your aunt's apparently okay with me staying and spending a little extra time with Tadashi, considering I wasn't able to get in earlier," Fred replies stiffly, not wanting to make a scene in front of Tadashi but not about to let Hiro off the hook so easily either-the teen needed to know that he was onto him and that he wasn't about to back down so easily.

"Whatever," Hiro grumbles, rolling his eyes slightly before turning to Tadashi and saying in a pleading voice, "Can we get back to the project we were working on, niisan?"

"Hiro," Tadashi answers, looking slightly torn. "Fred did just get here..."

"But it's a project!" Hiro cries, as if that obviously trumped everything.

"Maybe I could help you guys out with it?" Fred suggests, not wanting to be the source of trouble.

"No," Hiro states flatly before Tadashi can even answer. "Only Dashi and I work on our projects together. Period."

"Hiro!" Tadashi scolds, looking slightly surprised by his brother's behavior.

"Y'know what? Forget it," Hiro mumbles, stalking off. "Have fun with your boyfriend or whatever. See if I care."

"Hiro…" Tadashi reaches out a hand towards him, but by then he's halfway across the room.

"I'm sorry… Should I go?" Fred asks softly.

"What? No!" Tadashi answers firmly, turning towards him. "I'm sorry about Hiro, he's not usually like this. But just because he's acting off doesn't mean you need to leave. You're here right now, and we don't get to spend a lot of time together, so we should enjoy that while we've got it. Hiro can be patient and just wait until tonight to get back to work on the project."

"You sure?" Fred asks, not really wanting to argue but not wanting to appear like he was trying to get between Tadashi and Hiro either.

"Absolutely," Tadashi agrees firmly, gently tugging him towards the cove. "Now, c'mon-if Hiro wants to sulk, that's his problem. But let's not let that ruin this for us!"

"All right then," Fred agrees, finally allowing himself to smile. "In that case, lead on!"


	7. Chapter 7

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me! There is no way that Spiderman is better than Batman!” Fred cries about half an hour later, locked in the same debate he and Tadashi had been in practically since they’d gotten into the cave and made the stupid decision to start debating the pros and cons of superheroes. The debate had gotten extremely heated very, very quickly.

“You’re insane! Spiderman is the best superhero ever created!” Tadashi fires back.

“Seriously, I thought you’d be more into characters like Aquaman!” Fred says, shaking his head slightly as he realizes that Tadashi was never going to change his mind at this point, any more than he was changing his.

“Oh please, that imposter? He’s got nothing on mers!” Tadashi scoffs.

“Wow, superior much?” Fred drawls, raising an eyebrow.

“Can you look at me with a straight face and tell me that I’m not a hundred times cooler than he is?” Tadashi shoots back.

“Well… I’ll give you that you’re a lot better looking…” Fred mumbles, blushing slightly under that intense gaze.

“See! Totally important advantage him!” Tadashi says, the end of his tail slapping the water for emphasis.

“Are you really that vain?” Fred deadpans.

“No, of course not! Mers just have a reputation for being… y’know, kind of attractive…” Tadashi mumbles, suddenly blushing slightly in embarrassment. Fred couldn’t help but smile slightly at that. As much as Tadashi tried to act otherwise, the merman was extremely shy about some subjects, and apparently he definitely wasn’t the type of person who liked to brag about their personal appearance if the fact that he usually tensed up whenever Fred would even playfully start complimenting him was any sign.

“Well, you definitely hold that reputation,” Fred reassures him, making Tadashi blush even deeper red and duck his head. “C’mon, it’s okay to admit that you’re totally sexy,” the fanboy adds when he doesn’t respond, playfully nudging him.

“I--I’m really not....” Tadashi mumbles. “I’m kind of a freak of nature…” He flaps his tail helplessly out over the water as if to illustrate his point.

“What? Why would you even say that?” Fred cries in disbelief. “You are gorgeous--you are not be any definition a ‘freak’! If anyone’s the freak here, it would be me!”

“How are you a freak?” Tadashi asks, raising a confused eyebrow. “You’re completely normal--in the best way possible!” He quickly hurries to amend the statement, making Fred smile slightly at the Frozen reference before letting out a long sigh.

“Well, I’m glad you think that. But out in the rest of the world, I’m not exactly on the top of anyone’s friend list--or even on any list, period, except maybe the ‘ignore’ or ‘mock and make their life a living hell’ list,” he mumbles.

“Why would anyone do that?” Tadashi cries, looking completely affronted by the very idea. “You’re amazing! That makes absolutely no sense!”

“Well, I appreciate the vote of confidence,” Fred says, forcing a smile. “But I guess most people just aren’t that interested in the skinny gay kid who spends his free time reading comics and visiting convention, and anyone who’s even a little ‘different’ tends to draw the attention of bullies.”

“That… That is completely f*ed up!” Tadashi growls, his eyes flashing angrily. “I swear, if I could get out of this pool, I’d go find them and slap some sense into them!”

“That’s sweet,” Fred laughs, his smile more genuine this time. “But I wouldn’t worry about it. I finally graduated in the Spring and I’m going to SF State this fall, so I don’t have to see any of those jerks anymore and hopefully I’ll be surrounded with lots of other nerds!”

“SF State?” Tadashi cocks his head, looking a mixture of interested and slightly concerned. “Is that… a college?”

“Yep!” Fred agrees, grinning slightly. “I’ve already been accepted, and I’ve met some of the profs in the department I’m going into and they seem totally awesome! I’m super pumped about it, actually!”

“I see,” Tadashi says quietly before asking slowly, “Is it… Far from here?”

“What?” Fred’s slightly caught off guard by how upset Tadashi looks by the subject before suddenly understanding. “Oh, no, it’s totally not! It’s just across town, actually! I can totally still live at home and everything!”

“Really?” Tadashi asks, his eyes lighting up with relief.. 

“Definitely!” Fred agrees, reaching over to squeeze his hand reassuringly. 

“So you’ll still keep coming back to see me?” Tadashi adds hopefully.

“You forget,” Fred answers with a slight smile. “By then, hopefully you’re going to be out of this pool and going to SFIT so you’re probably going to be the one coming to visit me!”

Tadashi lets out a happy hum at that, happily nuzzling into him for a minute before asking curiously, “So, what degree are you going for?”

“English,” Fred answers instantly.

“Really? That’s awesome!” Tadashi grins. “What do you want to do with that?”

“I want to be a writer, if you can believe it,” Fred laughs, blushing slightly. “I know it’s not the easiest field to get into, but it’s what I want to do with my life, y’know?”

“If it’s your dream, you should definitely never give up on it!” Tadashi says firmly before asking curiously, “What kind of stuff do you write?” 

“Well, right now it’s mainly fanfiction,” Fred chuckles nervously. “But… I kind of have a thing for sci-fi and fantasy fiction…”

“You’re kidding me!” Tadashi stares at him for a minute before bursting out laughing. “Oh my gosh… I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at the fact that you want to write that sort of stuff, I swear! It’s just--I bet you never planned on actually having a mer for a boyfriend whenever you were working on your stories!”

“Well, I’m not gonna lie, no, I didn’t,” Fred agrees with a slight smile. “But hey, now I have an incredible muse, right?”

“Aw, I’m your muse?” Tadashi asks, grinning slightly. 

“You have to admit, our story would make an awesome book, don’t you think?” Fred answers with a slight grin.

“It probably would,” Tadashi agrees. “Heck, I’d definitely read it!”

“See? You’re already proving to be an awesome source of inspiration!” Fred tells him eagerly before adding playfully, “‘Course I don’t think words could ever do you justice…”

Tadashi blushes bright red, biting his lip but still grinning at that.

Just as Fred’s wondering if he can see how red he can get him blushing if he tries a little more light flirting, Aunt Cass comes into the cove, carrying a covered dish. 

“Oh, Fred, you’re still here!” she says, coming to a sudden stop.

“I-I’m sorry, was I supposed to go…?” Fred asks, somewhat confused and also slightly worried that somehow he’d messed up without even meaning to.

“No, I’m sorry sweetie, of course not!” Aunt Cass hurries to reassure him. “I’m just so used to it just being the three of us that I forgot that you were here!”

“Ah, gotcha.” Well, that was understandable.

“Supper’s pretty much ready at this point, so don’t mind me while I’m getting the table ready,” Aunt Cass says, waving for the boys to keep talking as she pulls a table that was cleverly folded up into the wall down and sets the platter on it.

“Oh, did you want me to leave?” Fred hated the idea of leaving so soon, but he didn’t want to interrupt the family’s evening rituals.

“Can he stay?” Tadashi begs, giving his aunt his best puppydog look. 

“Well…” Aunt Cass considers this. “It’s up to Fred, really. Do you think your family would mind?” she asks, turning to the fanboy.

“No, absolutely not!” Fred answers, trying not to sound too eager before shrugging and adding,. “I mean, they’re not even home--I think they’re at their vacation house in Spain right now or something. And even if they were, they don’t really care where I am or what I’m doing, so it’s no big. I’ll just text Heathcliff, my butler, and let him know where I am so he doesn’t start worrying.”

“A-all right, if you’re sure,” Aunt Cass says, looking slightly caught off guard by this sudden information burst, making Fred wonder if he’d said too much. Still, she doesn’t push him on it, just smiling and adding, “Well, we’ll be more than happy to have you. I’ll be back in a little bit with the rest of dinner, all right?”

“Sounds good,” Fred agrees, pulling his phone out to text Heathcliff. As he types, he can feel Tadashi’s tense gaze on him, and when he finally finishes typing he mumbles a little defensively, “What?”

“I--I’m really, really sorry about your parents,” Tadashi says softly. 

“It’s not a big deal,” Fred answers, shrugging and not meeting his eyes. “I mean, it’s always been like this--they go off and travel the world while I’m stuck here being looked after by babysitters and nannies. I’m used to it.”

“Still, no one should have to go through that…” Tadashi whispers.

“At least mine are still alive, right?” Fred offers before cringing, wondering if he shouldn’t have said that.

“True,” Tadashi agrees, a slightly hard look in his eyes which made Fred think he had totally crossed a major line. His next words, though, catch him completely off guard: “But… maybe it’s better that mine aren’t here…” 

“I’m sorry, that sounds horrible, doesn’t it?” Tadashi says, seeing Fred’s expression. 

“N-no, s-sorry!” Fred hurries to apologize. “Just… I didn’t exactly expect you to say that…”

“Most people would probably think I was a terrible person for saying it,” Tadashi admits, smiling wryly. “And I used to agree with them. But my parents… It’s complicated. They weren’t horrible people, per say. But they weren’t good parents. I don’t think that they ever accepted the fact that I was mer. They were ashamed of me. They spent all their time looking for doctors and scientists who could ‘cure’ me. I can hardly even remember them because they never spent more time with me than they had to. When Hiro was born, I thought that maybe it would be different--that they’d actually care about him. But they really didn’t. By then they’d given up on me and all they cared about was making sure that they raised their next son to be as ‘normal’ as possible--hell, they didn’t even let me see him more than was necessary! How fucked up is that? They wouldn’t even let me see my baby brother!” His eyes flash angrily, almost looking like storm clouds crackling with lightning. “Fortunately that was only for three years so they didn’t manage to mess him up as much as they probably would have if they’d had the chance… Not like they f*ed me over… I--I can’t say that I’m glad that the died. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But Aunt Cass has been a much better parent than they ever were.”

“Wow…” Fred finally breathes, wondering if it would be weird to hug Tadashi because that’s exactly what he wanted to do right then. Seeing how upset he was, he decides to go for it, and Tadashi seems grateful for the contact as he tightly wraps his arms around him. “That… That is so completely messed up, and I cannot even begin to say how sorry I am… No one should ever have to go through something like that…”

“I guess we both come from pretty messed up homes, huh?” Tadashi says with a sad laugh.

“Yeah,” Fred agrees, hugging him even tighter. “But hey, at least we have each other now, right?”

“Right,” Tadashi agrees, smiling slightly. “A-and we can help each other get past all the horrible stuff our parents did or are doing to us, right?”

“Right,” Fred answers firmly. “We’ve got each other’s backs, no matter what. ‘Cause that’s what friends do for each other.”

“F-friends?” Tadashi asks hesitantly.

“I-I’m sorry, should I not have said that?” Fred asks, mentally kicking himself. “I mean, this doesn’t meant that I don’t want to be your boyfriend! I totally do--insanely much. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being friends too, do you? I mean, a lot of healthy relationships start from friendships which is supposed to make them stronger--and wow, I’m babbling right now, aren’t I?”

“A little bit,” Tadashi admits, laughing slightly before adding, “But… Yeah. I’d like to be friends too.” He adds a little shyly, “I’ve honestly never had a friend before outside of Hiro…”

“Wanna know a secret?” Fred responds with a slight smile.

“Sure,” Tadashi answers, looking curious.

“I’ve never really had a friend before either.”

“Well then, I’m honored to be your first,” Tadashi says, smiling at him.

“You’ve been my first on a lot of things,” Fred answers with a grin. And it was true. Tadashi had been his first real kiss, his first boyfriend, and now his first friend. It was amazing how much his world had changed in such a short time. And honestly? He couldn’t wait to see where Tadashi might take him next.


	8. Chapter 8

"Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. Tadashi, I am willing to do a LOT of things for you, but this is-this is suicide!"

It was a little over a week since the day Tadashi and Fred had first met, and things had settled into something of a comfortable routine for them. Fred spent the morning and early afternoon completing his chores-he was finding that he was surprisingly enough getting better at them and, he hoped, might actually be gaining a little muscle on his usually chicken bone-esque limbs. After that, if he could actually find Hiro and convince him to let him in, he went in to see Tadashi. If he couldn't (and that was most days), he'd wait outside the door and text Tadashi until Aunt Cass got home. After that, he'd get to hang out with Tadashi until dinner, at which point most nights he was usually invited to eat with the family, and most times he accepted the invitation. Fortunately he managed to get away without his staff worrying about him too much by explaining to Heathcliff that he'd made friends with the teen that lived there and they liked hanging out after work. It was evident that Heathcliff could tell that it was more than just a friendship going on, but hey, as long as he didn't question it Fred didn't get too embarrassed by the knowing smiles he got whenever he mentioned his "friend".

Fred felt like he and Dashi (he'd fallen in love with the nickname and was more than happy to use it once given permission) were getting along great, hanging out together and he felt pretty much becoming best friends-albeit best friends who loved to cuddle and could kiss whenever they wanted to, but hey, that was a plus as far as he was concerned! Aunt Cass seemed to really be coming to trust him. He'd done everything he could to ensure that he didn't do anything to get on her bad side again, and she not only respected that, but once when he was leaving she'd pulled him aside and told him that she hadn't seen Tadashi this happy in a very long time and that she thought they were good for each other, which pretty much put Fred right over the moon. Hiro… Unfortunately the younger boy still seemed to hate his guts. He'd been as friendly and nice to him as he could, but the younger boy was still giving him the cold shoulder, refusing to talk to him more than was necessary and never making eye contact with him, even at dinner. A part of him was afraid that he was getting between the two brothers somehow, but whenever he brought it up Tadashi would brush off the problem, blaming it on Hiro beginning to have the "pubescent mood swings" that came with being a teenager (wow, what a way to word that…) and as long as he continued to seem happy, Fred wasn't about to push the issue.

Overall they'd been having a good time, enjoying hanging out in the cove where Tadashi could stay safely in the water and Fred, who had been traumatized out of swimming after an incident in second grade when an older cousin had shoved him into the deep end of the pool and he'd almost drowned before the lifeguard got to him, was able to stay safely out of it. After the first day when he'd admitted to not being able to swim, Tadashi hadn't said anything about it, and Fred thought that they'd just moved past it and it wouldn't come back up. Unfortunately, he'd been wrong. He should have known that Tadashi, being half fish himself, wouldn't let something like that go. And that's why he found himself in this rather prickly predicament.

"Fred," Tadashi says coaxingly, "you need to learn to swim at some point. Why not let me teach you? C'mon, there's no one safer to learn with than a mer-I'll be right there with you in case anything happens, which I seriously doubt it will!"

"Don't mers have a habit of drowning people they lure into the water?" Fred mutters, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Unfair stereotype," Tadashi huffs, copying Fred's motion before saying, "C'mon, all I'm asking is for you to try! We'll start you out in the shallow end and work you up to it!"

"Dashi," Fred deadpans, "there _is_ no shallow end in this pool!"

"Three feet is shallow!" Tadashi protests, gesturing to the end of the cove.

"Not when it goes up to your waist!" Fred argues back.

"Fred…" Tadashi gives him a pleading look. "Please? There's so much I want to show you of where I live but I can't until you learn how to swim!"

"Even if I could swim, I couldn't stay down there for more than, like, thirty seconds at a time!" Fred points out. "I can't breathe underwater like you or even hold my breath really long like Hiro!"

"What if I told you you were wrong about that?" Tadashi asks, grinning like he'd just neatly trapped Fred into a corner.

"W-what?" Fred asks, his eyes going wide with confusion. "T-that's impossible! I'm not mer!"

"But you could with this!" Tadashi reaches into a fold in his scales (apparently mers had built in pockets in their tails, Fred had learned-it had been a little bit disconcerting the first time he'd seen it, but now that he was used to it, he realized it was pretty useful considering mers couldn't exactly wear pants that had pockets in them) and pulls out a small device which folded into a mask-like contraption with an elastic strap that apparently was meant to go around the back of the head.

"What the heck is that?" Fred cries, not sure that he was going to like this.

"Something I've been working on!" Tadashi answers with a proud grin. "It's a device that allows you to breathe underwater! How cool is that?"

"P-pretty cool," Fred admits a little begrudgingly. "But how do you know it works?"

"Hiro and I tested it out last night," Tadashi replies. "And it definitely works!"

"But he's part mer-maybe it works for him but doesn't actually work for regular humans?" Fred protests.

"You know you're just making up excuses, right?" Tadashi tells him, raising an eyebrow.

"...Yes, I am," Fred finally admits. "But if being a coward means staying alive-"

"Fred, do you really think I'd ask you to do this if I didn't think you wouldn't be perfectly safe?" Tadashi challenges.

"...No," Fred sighs.

"Then do you think you can trust me?" Tadashi asks, his voice going soft. "C'mon. Just try it-that's all I'm asking. If you start freaking out or need to get back to the surface, I'll be right there to swim you right back to the surface, and you've seen how fast I can swim. But please-trust me on this."

"A-all right," Fred finally relents. "I-I'll give it a try."

"You will?" Tadashi cries, his whole face lighting up.

'Y-yeah," Fred answers, gulping convulsively. "Against my better judgement and under protest, but if it will make you happy…"

"It will!" Tadashi hurries to reassure him, wrapping his arms around him and kissing him warmly.

 _Well, worst comes to worst, at least I get a gorgeous merman giving me mouth-to-mouth_ , Fred thinks wryly as Tadashi swims over to the shallow end of the cove, gently tugging him along by the hand.

"I-I'm not exactly dressed for swimming," Fred reminds him as he stares nervously down at the water.

"Hiro usually just comes in in his clothes, but I did manage to get Aunt Cass to get some swim trunks for you-they're over there on that rock," Tadashi answers with a smile, pointing to a stone not too far from them.

"You planned this whole thing out, didn't you?" Fred sighs as, defeated, he goes over to pick up the shorts.

"Pretty much, yeah," Tadashi admits, laughing.

"Is this just a really convoluted scheme to get to see me shirtless?" Fred jokes weakly.

"Maybe…" Tadashi answers with a slight grin before laughing, "It's more of a fringe benefit!"

"Are you just going to stay there while I change?" Fred asks, raising an eyebrow as Tadashi fails to move.

"What? Oh, s-sorry, no, I'll go out so you can change in here!" Tadashi answers, blushing slightly and heading for the entryway.

"No fair peeking!" Fred calls after him-he was getting fairly comfortable with his boyfriend, but getting naked in front of him was still something that was a looooong ways down the road for him.

"I won't," Tadashi promises, ducking under the waterfall. "Just call me when you're done!"

"Right…" Fred sighs, wondering if if he took a long enough time to get changed he could get out of the swimming for the day. But no, even if he didn't do it today, Tadashi would get him into that pool sooner or later, so it was probably better to go ahead and get this over with. Feeling vaguely exposed, even though Tadashi had promised to stay outside, he strips down and pulls the shorts on as quickly as he can. Huh. They actually fit perfectly. Fred didn't know how Tadashi or Aunt Cass had figured out his size, but maybe some questions were better left unasked.

"A-all right, you can come back in," he calls after a moment of trying to gather up his courage.

"Okay!" Tadashi calls back. A few seconds later, his surfaces just inside the cove, shaking the water off of his hair before his eyes focus on Fred. "Whoa…" he says softly, his pupils dilating slightly as he grins.

"You like?" Fred asks, striking a ridiculous pose and trying to have some show of bravado but still blushing slightly as Tadashi's eyes roam appreciatively over him.

"Definitely," Tadashi agrees with a grin as he moves closer, adding in a playful whisper, "Maybe it is dangerous for you to get in the water with me-I might not want to let you go…"

"...You know you're not exactly adding to my desire to swim," Fred says, feeling his cheeks burning slightly and his heart rate speeding up slightly.

"Kidding! I'm kidding you!" Tadashi hurries to reassure him with a sheepish grin. "Seriously, you're completely safe!"

"How do I know that you're not just saying that to get me in there with you?" Fred teases back.

"Only one way to find out," Tadashi replies with a slight smile.

Fred laughs at that before staring hesitantly down at the water again. "So… I'm actually doing this," he says, his nervousness coming back to him full force.

"You've got this," Tadashi tells him firmly. "And I'm going to have you. C'mon, just lower yourself in, I'll be right here."

"O-okay…" Fred gulps convulsively, sending up a silent prayers to the powers-that-be that he wouldn't be floating belly up by the end of this little excursion, before tentatively dipping one foot into the water. Well, there was one good thing-the pool was always kept at a comfortable, almost bathwater temperature, so at least if he drowned he wouldn't feel like he'd just been flung off of the Titanic.

"Nice and easy," Tadashi coaches him gently.

Fred nods, not trusting himself to speak as he allows his body to slide, inch by careful inch, into the water, until it was up to his waist.

"There you go." As soon as he's in, he feels Tadashi's strong arms around him, his warm breath tickling his ear. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"N-no," Fred admits. Honestly, he was panicking slightly, but having Tadashi there with him was definitely helping.

"All right." Tadashi lets go with one arm, reaching over to grab the mask contraption from the side of the pool. "Let's give this a try, shall we?"

"O-okay," Fred agrees. He has to fight down a miniature panic attack as Tadashi pulls the device down over his mouth and nose, but he focuses on the other man's gorgeous eyes, and somehow that helped.

"I'm not going to bore you with all of the logisitics," Tadashi says once it's firmly fastened, "but when I turn it on, this little beauty will filter the air you need out of the water and pump back out the carbon dioxide. Just breathe normally and you'll be fine."

Fred nods, not really able to talk through the mask although his wide eyes were probably saying everything he needed to say.

"Hey. You're going to be fine." Tadashi pecks him firmly on the cheek before gently tugging him out towards the deeper water. Fred follows him, his heart hammering and fighting to breathe normally as the water gradually rises up his chest until it's at neck level.

"All right." Tadashi stops them just as they reach the drop off. "Let's stop here. I'm going to turn on the filter, and then I'm going to have you just duck your head under the water. If anything doesn't feel right, you go right back up to the surface and I'll bring you back to the shallows. Okay?"

Fred nods again, barely hearing Tadashi's words over the roaring in his ears of his heart racing like a jet engine.

"Here goes." Tadashi reaches up and flips a switch on the mask, causing it to whir to life. "All right, deep breath, and then just dip your head under," he coaches.

Fred does as instructed, taking one last deep breath before squeezing his eyes shut and, defying every panicked message his brain was sending him, goes under.

He holds the breath for as long as he can, not trusting that when he tries breathing he won't end up inhaling a lungful of water like last time he'd been in a pool. Still, after about forty seconds he can't hold it any longer and he releases the breath before instinctively inhaling. Instantly, he feels a rush of-air! Pure, sweet air! His eyes open and he sees Tadashi hovering in front of him, an expectant smile on his face.

"It's working?" he asks eagerly. The merman's voice was slightly different underwater. Above water, it had a slightly ringing quality to it, like it wasn't quite meant for open air. Below the surface, though, it seemed more natural-concentrated, almost, as if filtering through the water caused it to come closer to a regular human tone. It was still just as gorgeous below water as above water, though, so Fred wasn't going to complain.

Realizing that Tadashi was still waiting for an answer, Fred nods his head to signal that he was, indeed, breathing normally.

"Great!" Tadashi's eyes light up happily, squeezing his hand eagerly. "So-do you want to stay here, or come down and explore a little bit? I'm fine either way, it's whatever you're comfortable with!"

Well heck, if he was already down here and come this far, he might as well go the rest of the way, right? Fred tries to say his answer, only to find his voice hampered by the mask.

"Sorry, we're working on that as the next feature," Tadashi tells him when he realizes the problem.

Fred flashes him an appreciative smile only to realize that Tadashi couldn't see that either with the mask covering his mask. Still, the corners of his eyes crinkling up did the trick as Tadashi seemed to understand the message, smiling right back at him. Then, taking a deep breath to steady himself, Fred points down to the bottom of the pool, and Tadashi's tail swishes excitedly.

"You want to keep going?" he asks eagerly.

Fred nods-good, at least they had basic communication!

"All right then-come on!" Tadashi gently pulls him out towards the open water, gripping firmly onto his nearest hand. "Just hold on to me and you'll be all right," he promises.

It was another slightly panicky moment as Fred floats out into the vast expanse of blue, slightly terrified because he really didn't know what to do should something go wrong here. Still, with Tadashi holding onto him tightly, he knows that he has nothing to fear, so he breathes as normally as he can as the merman draws him further out. Then he forgets all about being scared as his attention is caught and held by what could only be considered a miracle of scientific advancement. There below them was a series of rooms, open on the top with no ceilings and separated by partitions into a small apartment like space. It was an entire home completely underwater, but aside from the occasional swaying of piece of fabric in a soft current, you never would have even known that it wasn't above the surface.

"Ready to go down?" Tadashi asks, glancing over at Fred.

The fanboy nods eagerly-of course he wanted to check this out!  
"All right then!" Tadashi chuckles warmly as he begins to lead him towards the bottom of the pool.

At first on the way down, Fred begins instinctively kicking, remembering a few swimming lessons he'd taken as a child, but somehow that felt foolish next to Tadashi's strong, smooth motions. After a minute, he changes tactics, keeping his legs together and mimicking the merman. It wasn't perfect, but Tadashi smiled with approval and he felt like maybe he was getting better at it by the time they reached the bottom.

There didn't appear to be any door on the structure, and even if there had been, it probably would have been almost impossible to open with all this water, so instead Tadashi brings them right through the "ceiling" and into the living room.

"Welcome to my home," he says with a grin, turning to Fred before chuckling slightly and adding, "Well, technically my home inside of a home. Sorry, it's a straight-up bachelor pad down here-Aunt Cass doesn't have the mer gene as strong as me and Hiro so she can't come down here and so it's just been two guys taking care of it for as long as I can remember. I apologize in advance for the mess…"

Mess? Heck, this place looked better than Fred's room usually looked even after he'd cleaned it! The room was furnished with simple but comfortable looking furniture-a couch, a couple of arm chairs, a small coffee table, several book shelves stocked with both books and movies, and a stand with a medium-sized television on it. Fred didn't even want to think about how much of that waterproofing spray all of this had taken, but he knew it had probably been well worth it for Tadashi to have some semblance of a home. He wondered if the room was solely illuminated by the light filtered down from the room above, but then he spotted several flat glowing circles on the walls and the floor-the typical lamps used to light pools at night, cleverly used to add lighting to the home.

Knowing that Tadashi was waiting for a reaction but sadly unable to fully express his awe, Fred flashes him a double thumbs up, trying to convey his approval. The merman smiles at that, obviously pleased, before leading him towards an opening in the wall that, as it turned out, led into a small kitchen.

"This is the galley," Tadashi explains with a slight smile, and Fred couldn't help but appreciate the playful use of the nautical term. There weren't any cooking appliances in it-apparently there were some things you couldn't risk underwater. Still, there was a table with chairs, and a small refrigerator, although it didn't appear to be actually running.

"Cold water gets pumped through it to help keep what's inside from spoiling," Tadashi explains when he catches Fred's curious glance. "Not much food you can store underwater without it going bad-even fruit and vegetables ferment if they're under here too long, so Aunt Cass just gives me a few pieces every day or two for in case Hiro and I get hungry. There's also seaweed and I keep raw fish in the 'freezer', but, well, those are kind of an acquired taste to anyone who isn't as mer as I am, so for the most part I don't eat them unless I'm alon"

Fred feels a slight twisting in his gut. Raw fish? Really? Well, then again, a lot of people enjoyed sushi, so maybe it wasn't that different. Besides, sometimes he ate nothing but ramen for weeks at a time, so who was he to judge?

"All right, so, on with the tour?" Tadashi says, apparently having thankfully missed Fred's initial reaction or else having chosen to ignore it.

Fred nods his head eagerly, and so, smiling, Tadashi leads him into the next room which, as it turned out, was the bedroom. It honestly looked like any normal teenager's bedroom, and he couldn't help but smile at that. There was a loft bed with a paper-strewn desk beneath it (all of the sheets were held down by a wide variety of colorful paperweights, and while it was still a little weird seeing paper underwater that wasn't completely soaked and falling apart, it was also insanely cool!) Since Tadashi apparently didn't have or need clothes, there was no closet, and he could only guess that the dresser was used as storage space for various other possessions. The rest of the wall space was devoted to bookcases absolutely crammed with novels, manga, and comics-apparently Tadashi wasn't kidding about loving to read-and posters for various fandoms which Fred couldn't help but be impressed by.

"Do you like it?" Tadashi asks a little shyly, turning to Fred, who nodded his head eagerly.

"I'm glad!" Tadashi beams at his reaction before looking up towards the surface. "Sadly, I think we'd better cut the tour short here," he sighs. "I'll have to show you the workshop next time, but we don't want to overtax the filter until we know for sure that it can withstand long periods underwater, and it's probably not too good of an idea to keep you away from normal air for too long either.

Fred couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed-he would have loved to have had more time to spend down here and explore-but Tadashi's warning made sense: he didn't want to end up accidentally suffocating or something if things went south. Reluctantly, he holds out a hand to Tadashi, who, smiling, takes it and begins to lead him slowly towards the surface. It's slow going, as Tadashi explains that, while the pool isn't near as deep as a regular olympic swimming pool, only 30 ft in the deep end, they still want to make sure that Fred doesn't end up with "the bends" like divers do when they go up too quickly, so they pause every few feet to let Fred's body readjust until they finally break the surface back in the cove.

"That-that was incredible!" Fred gasps as he finally removes the mask.

"Really?" Tadashi asks, practically beaming.

"Totally! That was-that was probably pretty much the coolest thing I've ever done! Well, after meeting you, that is," Fred says, grinning right back. "I was freakin' breathing underwater! I went to an underwater house! Who else can say they've done that outside of this family?!"

"Not many," Tadashi agrees, laughing his musical laugh that always made Fred's hair stand up on end before reaching over and squeezing his hand gently. "Thank you," he says softly.

"What are you thanking me for?" Fred asks, genuinely confused.

"For doing that for me," Tadashi answers with a warm smile. "I know how scared you were to do it, but you put you fear aside so you could visit my world. Most people wouldn't be willing to do that, and the fact that you were… It means more to me than I can even say." He wraps his arms tightly around Fred who, after a moment of surprise, happily hugs him back.

"Anything for you, amigo," he answers, grinning. "And, for the record? I had a total blast-y'know, once I got past the whole, 'Oh my gosh, I am going to die if I go underwater' thing!"

Tadashi laughs at that. "You are incredible," he says, wrapping his arms loosely around his neck and kissing him lightly on the lips.

"Well, I can't argue with that," Fred teases.

Tadashi rolls his eyes slightly at that, gently flicking him with his tail.

"Hey!" Fred protests before adding with a playful grin, "You know that now that you've got me in the water you can expect retaliation, right?"  
"What do you mean by-HEY!" Tadashi gasps as Fred happily splashes him. For a minute he just floats there in shock, dripping with water. Then he grins as he says, "Oh, you're going to pay for that one!"

They were still at it when Aunt Cass came in to tell them that it was getting late and that Fred needed to get heading home if he didn't want to break curfew. Both boys were sad to see it end, but they both know that she's right so Fred reluctantly climbs out to go towel off and get changed.

That night as he walks home, he can't get something that Tadashi had said out of his head. He'd said that Fred had come and visited "his world"-either unintentionally or intentionally referencing the song from _The Little Mermaid_. After seeing Tadashi's home, Fred could understand how, while as nice as an apartment at the bottom of a pool could be, it could get extremely stifling, much like Ariel's grotto. No wonder Tadashi wanted legs so he could get out of that pool as soon as possible…

Fred freezes as a scene from a book he'd once randomly picked up in the library flashes through his mind. It had been a book about mermaid-a mermaid who had also ended up stuck in a pool. The two girls in the story had managed to get the mermaid out of the pool and onto dry land for a date with the guy she was crushing on. Maybe it was a crazy idea. Maybe it was totally insane. But maybe, just maybe it would work. It wouldn't do much long term, but if it was possible that he could get Tadashi out of that pool and into some sunshine for even a few minutes, wasn't it worth a try?

He rushes the rest of the way home, just barely pausing to say "Hey" to Heathcliff at the door before hurrying into his room and locking himself in. As soon as he gets his laptop, he begins searching for the necessary supplies. Yes, yes, and YES! This crazy scheme might actually work! He grabs his phone and, without even bother to think it through, starts dialing.

"Hello, Ms. Hamada-I mean, Aunt Cass?" Fred says when the woman on the other end picks up. "Hey, it's me, Fred! Sorry to call so late, but I needed to talk to you-it's about Tadashi, and before you tell me I'm insane, please, just hear me out…"


	9. Chapter 9

"Someone looks happy today," Tadashi says, smiling as he sees his boyfriend practically bouncing into the room on a Saturday about a week after that initial visit to the underwater apartment. Fred had been down with him a couple more times since then-much to Hiro's great annoyance and Fred's delight-each time getting to explore a little bit more of Tadashi's home. Tadashi had shown him some of his inventions, including his latest pet project, Baymax-an underwater rescue bot which showed great potential. It was absolutely amazing, as, consequently, was the inventor.

The fanboy couldn't help it. The more time he spent with merman, the faster he was falling for him. And he was falling _hard_. Every moment that he wasn't with him, he was thinking about him, and almost everyone around him could notice the difference in the way he was talked and acted, the extra sparkle in his eyes. He knew that the maids at his house were gossiping like crazy, guessing what his rumored boyfriend must be like. Well, let them gossip-they never could have guessed just how amazing his boyfriend really was!

And today he definitely had a reason to be happy today. After much planning with Aunt Cass and hours of setup, he had a surprise for his boyfriend that he knew he was absolutely going to love.

"I am," he says, responding to Tadashi's question, pulling him into a passionate kiss when he finally reaches him.

"Whoa," Tadashi gasps when he finally lets him go, his eyelids fluttering slightly. "Y-you weren't kidding! What's the special occasion?"

"I have a surprise for you!" Fred answer gleefully.

"Y-you do?" Tadashi asks, his eyes sparking with curiosity. "What kind of surprise?"

"One you're really, really going to like," Fred replies before adding, "And I can't wait to show you, but you're going to have to forgive me for bringing someone along to help me."

"Help-?" Tadashi asks, only for his eyes to go wide when he sees Aunt Cass coming in, pushing a wheelchair in front of her.

"Hey kiddo!" she says, practically beaming as she parks the chair by the side of the pool and locks the wheels.

"W-what's going on?" Tadashi asks, looking between his two companions who were grinning like jack-o-lanterns.

"We're getting you out of this pool!" Fred declares.

"Y-you're what?" Tadashi gasps, his eyes, if possible, opening even wider.

"Not permanently, unfortunately," Fred answers. "But for a little bit, at least!"

"It was Fred's idea-he came up with and organized this whole thing," Aunt Cass says, giving the other man a proud look.

"I-I'm getting out of the pool," Tadashi whispers, sounding like he thought it was too good to be true, and really, Fred couldn't blame him for feeling that way after all of these years being trapped.

"Sadly we're going to have to put you into another, smaller pool once we get outside," Fred admits. "We don't want you drying out, but-  
"Outside? I'm going _outside_?!" Tadashi yelps, looking like his entire world was being turned on its head.

"Yep!" Fred agrees with a grin, enjoying the look of absolute astonishment on his face. "It took a bit of doing, but we found an area of the garden that blocked from view from the fence and was big enough to put a small above ground pool! It's not the same as actually getting to go outside on your own, but-"

"O-oh m-my gosh…" Tadashi stares up at him, his pupils having dilated to the point that he practically looked like an anime character. Moments later, he's throwing his arms around Fred, hugging him so tightly that the poor fanboy was afraid that a couple of his ribs were going to crack. "YOU ARE SERIOUSLY THE BEST BOYFRIEND EVER!" When he finally lets go, he eagerly starts trying to pull himself up out of the pool. "C-can we go now?"

"That's why we're here-but seriously, take it easy," Fred says, grinning at his enthusiasm but not wanting him to get hurt. "You're going to have to stay still so we can help you up into the chair, okay?"

"Okay," Tadashi agrees, settling himself on the edge of the pool, obviously trying to be good but the end of his tail twitching impatiently.

It takes a good five minutes and a few near-accidents to finally get him into the chair, Fred on Tadashi's one side and Aunt Cass taking the other. At one point the wheelchair actually almost took a nosedive into the pool! Fortunately, though, they manage to catch it on time and, after much effort, they have Tadashi safely seated. As a safety precaution, Fred had ordered a chair that had a built-in harness-as good a job as Tadashi usually did of sitting on his own on dry ground, there was no way that they wanted to risk him slipping off on the trip to the garden and hurting himself so the harness was just added protection.

"All right-I think we're ready to go!" Fred declares once they finish adjusting the footrests so that Tadashi's fins can rest safely on them without dragging on the floor. "You ready?" he asks, giving Tadashi's shoulder a light squeeze.

"Ready? Are you kidding me? Of course I'm ready!" Tadashi cries, grinning up at him.

"Let's take it slow," Aunt Cass tells Fred, unable to keep a slightly concerned look off of her face. "At least until we know that this is going to work."

"Right," Fred agrees, beginning to very carefully push the chair out of the cove and into the main room. It was slightly rough going, given that the ground was covered in sand instead of being a flat surface, but the harness seemed to be working and, after much painstaking work, they manage to get Tadashi to the door completely unharmed.

"I... I can't believe I'm doing this," Tadashi admits in a whisper which indicated he was working hard not to start crying. "I-I'm actually getting out of this room!"

"Well believe it, because you are!" Fred declares, leaning down to kiss his boyfriend on the cheek.

"C'mon, let's not waste daylight!" Aunt Cass tells them as she pulls the door open, obviously trying not to get too emotional herself.

"W-wait," Tadashi says, looking up at Fred. "Is Hiro coming too? I know he'd want to be here for this."

"I-I tried to talk to him," Fred answers, sighing heavily. "But when I tried to explain, he just told me he was busy today."

"It's true, he left out early this morning-he was gone before I even woke up," Aunt Cass agrees with a slight frown. "I don't know what's gotten into him lately."

 _I do…_ Fred thinks guiltily, but he tries to push those thoughts away.

"Well…" Tadashi says after a moment of contemplative silence. "I-I want him to be here for this, but if he's busy, it seems a shame to have come this far only to turn back now…"

"How about when he gets back in, I'll send him out to the garden to see you?" Aunt Cass suggests gently. "I'm sure it'll be a wonderful surprise for him!"

"That sounds perfect!" Tadashi agrees, visibly brightening. Fred couldn't help but smile at how the elder Hamada was so adorably devoted to his little brother while at the same time feeling slightly guilty because he felt like he was at least somewhat the cause for the current rift between them. Even if Tadashi didn't seem to realize it yet, would he hate him if he knew the truth?

"You okay?" Tadashi's voice and the touch on his hand draws Fred out of his troubling thoughts.

Quickly forcing a grin onto his face, Fred answers, "Oh, yeah, of course! Now c'mon, let's get this adventure started!"

He pushes the wheelchair carefully over the threshold, and he hears Tadashi having a sharp intake of breath.

"Whoa…" the other man whispers in awe, his eyes hungrily taking in everything around him. It was just a hallway, but to someone who had been bound to one room for practically their entire life, it was as fascinating as a glittering chamber out of a fairy castle.

"Welcome to the rest of your home, Tadashi," Fred tells him with a slight grin even as Aunt Cass reaches down to tightly squeeze her nephew's hand, a few tears making their way down her cheeks at the enormity of the seemingly small moment.

"I-is there more?" Tadashi finally manages to get out, looking eagerly up at his two companions.

"Uh, yeah, a LOT more!" Fred chuckles, smiling warmly down at him. "C'mon-we'll go slow so you can take everything in."

Honestly, it probably would have been overwhelming if Tadashi hadn't been so naturally curious. Fred and Aunt Cass did their best to answer his seemingly endless stream of questions, glad to provide the service to the eager merman. It took a good hour just to make the short trip from the pool room door to the back door that led to the garden. Fortunately, Aunt Cass had given the rest of the staff the day off so they weren't interrupted and Tadashi was able to enjoy the journey without having to worry about anyone staring or making him in any way uncomfortable. As they neared the door, the merman's questions slowly trailed off, but his eyes were sparkling with excitement.

"Wait," he says when they're a few feet from it, pausing Aunt Cass who had been getting ready to open the door.

"Is something wrong, sweetie?" she asks, giving him a concerned look.

"N-nothing wrong," Tadashi answers slowly. "J-just… This is a really big step for me… I've never been outside in my life before… H-how do I know I'm ready for it?"

"Sometimes we can't ever be prepared-we just have to plunge in and do it," Fred says encouragingly in his ear.

Tadashi closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then, a determined look on his face, nods. "All right-let's do this," he says firmly.

Grinning, Aunt Cass opens the door and, with a slight bump as they cross the threshold, Fred pushes Tadashi out into the open air for the very first time.

It was as if the world had slowed down just to watch this special moment. Not a car passing by nor lawnmower running nor even a rustle of wind disturbed the early morning peace. The only sounds were that of water trickling musically in a nearby fountain and distant birdsong, the air lightly perfumed by the many flowers that grew in the enclosed space.

When Tadashi fails to say anything for a full five minutes, Fred looks down to check on him, only to feel alarmed when he sees actual tears glimmering on his cheeks. He's about to ask what was wrong, but before he can, Tadashi finally whispers, "I-it's all so beautiful…"

Fred feels his heart warming at that, and he can tell that Aunt Cass is crying enough for both of them as he gently starts pushing Tadashi along the garden path towards where the pool had been set up. He watches the merman tilting his face towards the sun, closing his eyes and seeming to luxuriate in the feeling of the warmth on his skin-quite possibly experience direct sunlight for the first time in his life.

All too soon, they reach the clearing where the pool had been set up. Honestly, Fred felt kind of bad for making Tadashi go back into a pool since they'd just gotten him out of one, but the scales on the mer's tale were beginning to look a little dry, as if he'd been out of the water for too long, so he decides that it's probably for the best. It again takes both Aunt Cass and Fred to lift Tadashi out of the chair and into the pool, but after much effort they manage it. The merman ducks under the water the minute he's fully in, resurfacing about a minute later looking fully refreshed.

"Thank you so much-both of you," he says, flashing them both an extremely grateful smile as he swims over to the edge. "I-This is something I never even thought would ever happen... It's hard to even believe that any of this is real and I'm not just dreaming all of this!"

"We're just glad to see you so happy, sweetheart," Aunt Cass tells him, kissing him on the cheek.

"Definitely," Fred agrees, and he can't help but blush under Tadashi's intense gaze. It was almost as the merman was seeing him for the first time all over again, and it was enough to make his heart pound like crazy.

"Well," Aunt Cass says, looking between the two and smiling slightly, "I'd probably better go start on lunch-I'm voting we have a picnic right out here in the garden, how does that sound to you two?"

"Excellent!" Fred answers eagerly.

"Absolutely perfect," Tadashi agrees, his eyes never leaving Fred.

"All right then." Aunt Cass barely conceals a grin as she heads back towards the house. "I'll have my phone on if you need me."

"Okay," Tadashi agrees vaguely, but his whole attention was on the man in front of him.

"W-why are you looking at me like that?" Fred asks, an intense blush crossing his face as the merman continues to stare.

"Come here." The words weren't exactly a command, but Fred finds himself taking two involuntary steps forward.

"U-um, s-should we talk about this…?" Fred asks nervously, the back of his neck burning as he sees just how passionately Tadashi is gazing at him.

"What?" Tadashi shakes his head slightly as if coming out of trance, an apologetic look quickly crossing his features. "O-oh, s-sorry… I-I didn't mean to-"

"Hey. It's okay," Fred hurries to reassure him, flashing him a warm smile-it wasn't so bad now that he knew Tadashi wasn't just acting under mer instincts. "All you have to do is ask."

"C-can I kiss you?" Tadashi asks, obviously slightly embarrassed by the question but willing to follow by Fred's rules.

"Oh-I honestly thought you were going to ask for something more than that," Fred admits with a wry chuckle.

"I-I…" Tadashi stammers, his cheeks blushing bright red.

"Hey." Fred reaches down and gently cups the man's cheek in his own hand. "It's okay. We'll take it at whatever pace you're comfortable with. And, for the record, yes, I would love to kiss you."

He leans down and gently presses his lips against Tadashi's. The mer lets out a happy sigh, his arms wrapping around Fred's neck. There was something there-a spark, almost a flame in the kiss, spreading out like a warmth between the two of them. Fred doesn't know exactly what it is, but it feels good, and he deepens the kiss, Tadashi happily returning in kind. He's just daring to let his tongue play at the seam of the mer's lips, and the merman humming happily against the contact when-

CRASH.

Tadashi and Fred jerk apart, both of their hearts racing like crazy as they turn to see-

"H-Hiro?" Tadashi's expression morphs into one of confusion and concern as he sees his little brother lying in a heap on the ground, obviously just having come over the back fence.

"Ouch…" Hiro mumbles, wincing as he picks himself up.

"W-what happened to you?!" Tadashi cries, instantly panicking when he sees the bruises and cuts on his brother's face.

"Dashi, it's nothing, I just-" the boy starts to mumble as he shoves what looks suspiciously like a small black robot into his hoodie before freezing as he suddenly registers the scene in front of him. "D-Dashi… Y-you're outside," he stammers, his eyes going wide.

"Yeah," Tadashi answers, his concern still evident but a slight look of pride on his face as he flashes a smile over at his boyfriend. "Fred put all of this together so I could finally experience getting to be outside for the first time! Isn't it great?"

"Y-you did this," Hiro says, staring at Fred, his expression blank but a storm evidently brewing beneath it.

"U-um, y-yeah," Fred agrees. "I did. I had the idea and I talked to your Aunt and she-"

"And you didn't think to tell me?" Hiro cuts in, anger beginning to creep into his tone.

"Well, I tried, but you-" Fred begins, only to have his words drowned out by an angry cry from Hiro.

"How could you? HOW. COULD. YOU?" he demands, rushing at Fred.

"Hiro, what the hell are you doing?" Tadashi cries, his tail churning the water.

"I-I was supposed to be the one who did this!" Hiro screams, ignoring his brother's words. "How could you take this from me? Tadashi is MY brother! I'm the one who's supposed to take care of him, not you, you fucking interloper!" He shoves Fred against the fence, knocking the wind out of the other man so that he couldn't even cry out in protest. "You think you care about him? You think you love him? You know NOTHING! I have spent every waking moment of my entire life caring for my nii-chan because he is my brother and I love him more than anyone can ever understand! And then you come waltzing in here, thinking you can just magically fix everything just because you can give him something I can't because I don't love him like _that_? Well listen to me, because you are wrong-you are so. very. wrong. Tadashi is mine, and you can't have him! You can kiss him and do whatever else it is you want to do, thinking it somehow gives you a more 'special' bond with him, but you will never have what we-"

"HIRO. TAKACHICHO. HAMADA." A thunderous voice rings out through the backyard, and everyone turns to see Aunt Cass standing in the garden door, looking like a storm cloud embodied. In what felt like moments, she was across the garden, grabbing Hiro by the ear and dragging him away from Fred- _Apparently she was also much stronger than she looked_ , Fred's mind dully observes even as he gasps for breath.

"What were you- To think that a nephew of mine would ever-You know what, I don't even want to hear any excuses young man, you are coming with me. NOW." Aunt Cass' voice leaves no room for argument as she drags the younger boy, yelping in pain, back towards the house.

Still, despite his obvious discomfort, before he gets pulled into the house, Hiro manages to turn and yell back towards the two, "It's Tadashis' choice. It's you or me. One of us has to go, and I don't think it's going to be m-" His words are cut off as Aunt Cass yanks him the rest of the way in, slamming the door shut behind them.

"Oh my gosh, Fred, are you okay?!" Tadashi cries, watching desperately as Fred regains his footing and looking like he was very much tempted to try to pull himself over the side so that he could try to help him. "Did he hurt you? I am SO sorry, I have no idea what got into hi-"

"No," Fred says, shaking his head and coughing painfully. "H-he's right."

"W-what?" Tadashi asks, confusion written all over his face. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hiro's right," Fred answers, barely choking the words out, not sure if the pain in his chest was from being rammed up against the fence or from the fact that his heart was breaking because of the words he knew he needed to say but were absolutely killing him inside. "H-he's right… He's your brother. He's your family and that's infinitely more important than I am. A-and i-if I'm c-coming between you two, I n-need to l-leave before I tear you two apart. I-I could never live with myself if I did that."

"W-what are you saying?" Tadashi asks, paling and looking extremely taken aback.

"If I stay, you'll hate me later for getting between you and Hiro!" Fred answers, just barely holding back a sob. "So I won't make your choose between us-I'm removing myself from the equation." He's unable to meet Tadashi's eyes as he starts to back away. He knew that if he did, he'd lose his self control and he'd never be able to leave. But he had to do leave, even though it was tearing his soul apart-he needed to do this if he truly cared about the merman who had and always would hold his entire heart.

"N-no!" Tadashi cries, his eyes going wide with horror as he desperately tries to get out of the pool but can't quite manage. "Please!" he begs. "We'll work this out! Hiro means the world to me, but maybe my world is finally bigger than just the four walls of my pool! And I want-no, I _need_ you to be a part of it! W-without you in it, I don't know if it's even a world I want to be in..."

"I-I'm sorry," Fred answers quietly, reaching the door that led back into the house. " I just... I can't be responsible for tearing you away for your brother. It's for the best that I leave before I make things any worse. Things will go back to how they were before and you'll forget all about me."

"No…" Tadashi whispers before crying desperately, "Fred? Fred, no! Don't you dare walk out through door!" Starting to cry, he adds, "I-I could make you stay! I could change your mind if I wanted to! I could keep you from ever leaving me!"

"Yeah, I know you could," Fred answers softly, a watery smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "But we both know that you won't."

"Fred... Please…" Tadashi begs, although it's evident to both of him that he knew it was hopeless. "Please... Don't leave…"

"Y-you be well, Tadashi Hamada…" Fred says, allowing himself one last look at Tadashi, the image blurred by his tears. "I-I hope you can find someone else who can do what I couldn't..." Then, pushing the door open, he runs. He runs through the house, out the front door, and through the Hamada's gate, not stopping until he's safely inside his own room in his own house. There, he collapses on the bed, shaking with silent sobs. The most amazing, beautiful thing in his life-gone. One moment, there, the next, completely shattered. But he'd done the right thing. He keeps telling himself that over and over again all through the impossibly long day and even longer night as he stays huddled on his bed, locked alone in his room. Tadashi would be happier this way. He had seemed upset earlier, but ultimately he'd be better off with his brother. Hiro was right-this was the way it was meant to be and he was just an unfortunate accident that had never been meant to happen. Well, he'd fixed his mistake and he was determined to never do the same thing ever again.

If only he'd known that the rain that lashed the windows all through the afternoon and late into the night were the tears of the merman whose heart he had broken.


	10. Chapter 10

Hiro should have been happy. He should have been over the moon, really. He'd gotten exactly what he'd wanted: that creepy interloper, Fred, was gone. He had his brother back and he didn't have to share him with anyone. His life was back to normal. Yet why did it seem so empty?

Well, maybe it was because things hadn't exactly gone back to how they had been before and he didn't exactly have Tadashi back. In a sense he did-Tadashi was safely back in the main pool and Hiro could see him pretty much any time he wanted. But it almost felt like, even though he was physically there, the spark inside of him, the spark that made him the amazing niisan that Hiro knew and loved, had either disappeared or just died out completely. Nothing that he usually loved interested him or could even make him smile anymore. He spent all of his time either holed up in his room or floating apathetically in the pool, a dead look in his eyes. Hiro tried talking to him, but usually Tadashi would swim away or, worse, just completely ignore him. He had thought that the lecture Aunt Cass had given him for what he'd done to Fred was bad, but it was nothing compared to seeing his brother, usually so full of life and excitement, looking so dead.

Hiro had thought that it would pass after a day or two-that Tadashi would come around and see that he'd been right, that it was better with just the two of them. But as the days wore on, the younger boy began to get seriously concerned. Tadashi was refusing meals, not even touching the food that Aunt Cass left for him, making him look thin and pale. He had bags under his eyes as if he wasn't sleeping well-if at all-and though he tried to hide it, Hiro caught him crying on and off throughout the day. Even the scales on his tail were beginning to lose their shine. It was when he saw that some were actually starting to fall off that Hiro got seriously worried. Unfortunately, there weren't really any doctors out there for mers, so he had to go with what he had: the internet.

First he tried looking up "What to do for a sick merman"-he knew it was a long shot, but maybe someone out there who actually knew something, either from an old legend or because, like him, they actually had a mer in the family or knew one. Unfortunately, all he ended up with a bunch of weird hits from crazies and people who liked to think they were experts but obviously knew nothing, based on what Hiro knew to be true about Tadashi. So Hiro turned to a more practical source: he started looking up Tadashi's symptoms, but for fish. There were a lot of hits for various fish diseases but he seriously doubted that an unclean tank (the water in the pool was constantly filtered and treated to prevent that) or the various diseases and infections that were suggested had anything to do with Tadashi. What finally clicked was reading about lethargy, lack of eating, and overall sick behavior being caused by stress and, more specifically in Tadashi's case, loneliness. Just as too much crowding in a tank could cause increased amounts of stress, so could losing a friend or mate. Hiro felt a sick feeling in his chest as he googled, "Can fish die from stress?" The answer: Yes. Apparently stress could cause a lowering of a fish's immune system and, if the problem wasn't solved, the fish could end up dying in a very short period of time. While Hiro tried to comfort himself that Tadashi was technically half human so this might not be the case for him, he couldn't help but think of all of those dead, floating scales he was finding. Tadashi was sick-very sick-and the truth was, he was the cause of it. As much as he tried to think of any excuse to prove to himself that he had been doing the right thing sending Fred away, he finally had to admit to himself that he hadn't been protecting Tadashi: he'd been protecting himself. He'd been jealous and selfish, plain and simple, and now it was going to be his fault if his brother actually died because of it.

Died…

Hiro gulps convulsively, shaking his head. No, he couldn't think like that! All the websites said that the way to help a sick fish who was under stress was to fix the problem that was causing the stress. Well then, the solution was simple: he had to get Fred back, and he had to get him back _now._

Unfortunately, Hiro didn't exactly know how to get ahold of him. He knew that Fred lived somewhere on the street, sure, but not exactly where. Tadashi had his phone number, but unfortunately Tadashi wasn't talking to him so that was out. Next Hiro tried calling Aunt Cass-despite Tadashi's condition, both boys insisted that she keep up with the cafe, Hiro promising to call if things got worse. She had all the information for everyone who worked for them and Hiro thought that she might be able to tell him how to get ahold of Fred, but it must have been slammed at the cafe because she wasn't answering his calls or texts.

 _Think, Hiro, think!_ he tells himself, fighting down panic. _Come on, what does Tadashi tell you to do when you're stuck? Look for a new angle!_ Desperate, Hiro throws himself onto the bed, hanging his head over the side so that the world look upside down. If nothing else, maybe all the blood rushing to his head would give him an idea that he hadn't tried yet? And that's when he sees it. Perched on the edge of his desk, a card and an envelope he hadn't bothered to throw away when it had come in the mail approximately a month ago. It wasn't until now that he made the connection between the sender who had invited him over to hang out and the teen that had been hired to help keep house. Both named Fred Lee-how had he not seen this before?! Laughing triumphantly, Hiro throws his arms up in victory, only to accidentally overbalance himself and slide off the bed, hitting the floor with a loud _thunk_. He rubs his head in pain as he picks himself up, but he does his best to ignore the soreness as he races over to the desk. His hands shaking so badly with relief that he almost drops the card, he scans the text to find-there! An address!

Barely even stopping to pull on shoes to prevent showing up barefoot at Fred's front door, he practically shoves the door to his room open and races off down the hallway.

 _Hold on, Tadashi!_ he thinks. _I'm going to save you, if it's the last thing I do!_

Fred was lying on his bed in much the same position Hiro had been in minutes earlier. The lights were all off, some daytime sitcom that he couldn't care less about playing on the TV. He had barely slept or eaten in days as deep depression had set in. It was ridiculous, really. How could he be so messed up over a guy he had only met a couple of weeks ago? He'd had crushes before for a much longer period of time and he'd gotten over them easily enough. Why wasn't he springing back to his old, happy self like he always did?

 _Maybe because it was more than just a crush this time_ , his mind answers, but he quickly pushes that thought away. No, he couldn't think like that! He needed to forget Tadashi-it was best for both of them. Even though he lived just down the street from him, he needed to make himself believe that everything that had happened there had all been some really good dream so that way he could move on and let Tadashi live the safe, happy life that he deserved. That's the only thing that made any of this bearable: the fact that he knew that Tadashi was happier without him. As long as that was the case, he was able to live with the perpetual dull ache of emptiness in his chest where his heart should have been.

"Master Frederick?"

Fred is startled out of his thoughts by a knocking on the door and the sound of his butler, Heathcliff's, voice out in the hallway.

"Heathcliff, I told you already, I'm not hungry," he sighs. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He was honestly starving, but the smell and even the sight of food made him physically ill and the few bites he'd forced himself to take sat heavily at the bottom of his stomach, making him feel worse instead of better. It was easier just to live with the emptiness-that's all he was feeling these days anyway.

"Sir, I apologize for the intrusion, but you have a visitor, and they are most insistent upon seeing you," Heathcliff's voice answers.

A visitor? Fred instantly perks up at that. Could it be-? No, Tadashi was pool-bound, remember? There was no way he could get here. Still, there weren't that many people who would actually come to see him…

"S-send them in," Fred finally says, sitting up and watching the door with nervous curiosity, not daring to get his hopes up.

The instant the door opens, a blur of black, blue, and red comes racing in, and he barely has time to register the form as Hiro before the younger boy starts talking, his words coming out in a jumbled rush. "I'm sorry. You were right, I was wrong, and I am so, so sorry for everything I did. I was being selfish and I acted like an idiot because I thought you were trying to take Tadashi away from me, but now he's sick and it's all my fault and I need you to come back with me because if you don't, I don't know if he…. If he's going to…" The younger boy bites his lip, looking like he was trying not to cry as Fred tries to process the load of information that had just been dumped on him. One thing finally sticks out, though.

"T-Tadashi's sick?" he gasps, his voice sticking slightly in his throat.

"Y-yes!" Hiro agrees shakily, grabbing his hand and beginning to tug at it. "He hasn't been eating and his scales are starting to fall off, and it's all because I was so stupid and made you leave and now he's pining for you or something and I'm really, really scared that if we don't do something soon he m-might not make it! So I need you to come back with me-we need to fix this before it's too late!"

Tadashi was sick? Almost deathly so? Fred knew he should be horrified at this information, but somewhere deep inside of him was the heart of a prince, and instead of panicking, he knew exactly what he had to do. "Take me to him," he tells Hiro, standing up.

Through his tears, the younger boy smiles up at him like a hero had just arrived to save the day.

"How bad is he?" Fred asks as they race through the halls of the Hamada's mansion only minutes later.

"I-I don't know," Hiro admits. "It's not good. But everyone on the internet said that the way to fix this is to remove the cause of the stress-in this case, that means bringing you back!"

"Wait-you can google how to heal a sick merman?" Fred asks, wondering what the heck he'd been missing all these years.

"No-well, you can, and I tried, but there's nothing decent out there," Hiro sighs, "so I switched to looking up on what to do for a sick fish."

"Ah." Fred nods. Well, that made sense-sort of.

"All right, we're here," Hiro says as they reach the door, pressing his thumb to the scanner. After a moment, there's a click as the lock disengages and the two push the door open, racing inside.

"Where is he?" Fred asks, searching for any sign of the merman.

"I'm not sure," Hiro admits. "I mean, he could be in the apartment, he could be in the cove, or he could be-oh no. Oh GOSH no! TADASHI!"

His eyes go wide with horror as he sees Tadashi on the far side of the pool from them, not in the water but lying on the sand, not moving.

No. NO. NONONONONONONO. Fred's whole world seems to come to a complete and sickening halt. Tadashi… His Tadashi, his beautiful, wonderful Tadashi, he couldn't be-

Without even thinking about it, Fred takes off across the room, his feet dully slapping against the sand but the only sound he could hear was the beating of his own heart, painfully thudding against his chest. "TADASHI!" he cries as he nears him, silently praying-begging-that he was still alive.

"F-Fred?" Slowly, Tadashi's head lifts, his eyes glazed as he stares blankly across the room.

"Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh... " Fred feels an immense wave of gratitude as he puts on a final burst of speed, falling to his knees next to his boyfriend. "It's okay," he says, wrapping his arms tightly around him. "You're going to be okay."

"Fred…" Tadashi's eyes, still glazed, seem to light up slightly as he reaches up a shaking hand to gently trace his cheek. "Y-you came back…"

"Of course I did," Fred answers, holding him closer and trying not to choke on the tears that were threatening to spill over. "I couldn't stay away if it was hurting you!"

"I'm so glad you came back," Tadashi says softly, his head nuzzling gently into his chest as he takes a slightly rattling breath. "A-at least I got to see you again…"

"Tadashi? Tadashi, no, do not even talk like that!" Fred cries. "W-we're going to get you back in the water, and you're going to be okay!"

Tadashi shakes his head, as if he barely has energy left. "N-no… I can f-feel it… It's too l-late…"

"Tadashi… Tadashi, please, no," Fred begs, his tears finally breaking through. "I-it can't be… I-I just got you back… Please, don't leave me…"

"K-kiss me one last time?" Tadashi asks, barely a ghost of a smile on his face.

Holding back a sob, Fred looks up to see Hiro, still frozen with horror, watching them from across the pool. He'd brought him back to save Tadashi, but he'd failed. It was too late. All he could do now was fulfill the merman's last request.

Leaning down, he gently presses his lips against his boyfriend's, who weakly responds, smiling into the kiss even as Fred's tears fall onto his pale face. Then, in one horrendous moment, Fred feels a light, gusting breath against his lips and he knows that Tadashi had just breathed his last.

"Tadashi?" he whispers, feeling a sob building up in his chest. "Oh God… Tadashi, NO!" he screams, hugging the merman's limp form to his chest, willing him to come back to life, even if just for a moment. There was so much he needed to say-he'd never even gotten to tell him that he loved him! "Please, no… No…" he whispers, his body slumping in defeat.

"Y-you have to let him go," he hears a quiet voice by his side say. He looks over to see Hiro kneeling next to him, holding his dead brother's hand. His vision was obscured by tears, but he could hear that the younger boy was crying too. "You-you h-have to put him b-back in the water," Hiro says, his voice broken by tiny sobs. "I-it's where he belongs… He's of the sea… You have to give him back to it."

"NO! I-I'm not letting him go!" Fred cries, unable to believe what he was hearing. How could Hiro be so calm about this?!

"I-if you don't, he'll never be at peace," Hiro answers, tugging at his arms. "You have to let him go!"

"Please… No…" Fred whispers, but he knows what he has to do. He leans down and, with shaking breath, kisses Tadashi one last time before allowing Hiro a moment alone with his brother, turning away as he tries to choke down a sob that was threatening to rip his heart into a million pieces. Then Hiro gently tugs on his arm and he knows it's time.

His hands are shaking so badly that he isn't even sure he can do it, but with Hiro's help they manage to carefully slide Tadashi's body into the water.

"W-what happens now?" Fred asks in a trembling voice, not sure that he wanted to know but needing to ask the question.

"What happens to all mers when they die-they turn into sea foam," Hiro answers, oddly calm, as if resigned to this fate.

"T-then why isn't it happening?!" Fred asks, burying his face in his hands-he couldn't watch as this beautiful man he hadn't had near enough time with disintegrates into nothing but foam.

"I-I don't know!" Hiro answers, his voice full of uncertainty. "I-It should work! Do you think it's because this isn't the actual sea?"

"Do you think that I know any more than you do?!" Fred cries hysterically.

"I-W-wait! S-something's happening!" Hiro says suddenly, tugging on Fred's arm. "Y-you need to see this!"

"NO! I am not watching him turn into sea foam!" Fred shouts-how could Hiro be so cruel?!

"NOT THAT!" Hiro whacks him soundly on the arm to get his attention. "H-he's breathing!"

"H-he's what?!" Fred stammers, finally daring to look.

"Oh my God… Oh my God, h-he's breathing!" Hiro cries. As they both watch, Tadashi's limp chest rises and then falls, rises and falls, and then-

"H-Hiro? F-Fred?" Tadashi's eyes crack open, staring up at the two men over him, looking dazed and confused. "A-am I dead…? Is this H-Heaven?"

"TADASHI!" Within moments, both men are in the pool, wrapping their arms around him and crying with relief.

"Oh my gosh… T-Tadashi, you came back to me," Fred whispers, gently stroking his face.

"C-c'mon!" Hiro says, grabbing hold of his brother's shoulder and pulling gently on it. "Let's get him back to the cove."

Fred nods in understanding, beginning to stroke along with him, bringing the merman back to the safety of the cove. "You're going to be okay," he whispers over and over, stroking Tadashi's hair, kissing his face, whatever it took to reassure himself that his love was here and safe and alive. "W-we're going to be okay."


	11. Chapter 11

That night was the first night Fred spent at the Hamadas'. After the close call, Tadashi seemed to be marginally better, but to be safe Hiro brought Tadashi's mattress and blankets up to the cove so he could sleep there and they could keep an eye on him overnight. There was a slight scare when he continued to shed dead scales, but fortunately those were quickly replaced by new, healthy ones. Hiro, for his part, was treating Fred like he was some sort of saint and practically begged him not to leave that night, something which Fred wasn't going to argue with-he didn't want to leave Tadashi any more than Tadashi wanted him to leave. Aunt Cass, of course, had to be informed of what had happened although the boys tried to keep the story as mild as possible to keep her from panicking. Once she knew that Fred had been at least partially responsible for saving her "angel's" life, she was more than willing to let him stay overnight. The next week continued in much the same vein. Fred was given a break from his usual household duties so that he could spend as much time as possible with Tadashi-Aunt Cass even put his fingerprint into the system so that he could come and go as needed, meaning that Fred now had full access to the room, and he was using that to its fullest extent. Instead of seeing him as a bother and wanting him to leave, Hiro was doing everything he could to encourage Fred to spend more time with the elder Hamada, seeing him as the key to his brother's healing. Fred, in turn, when Hiro showed signs of not wanting to spend time with Tadashi due to his guilt over his part in brother's near death, convinced him that Tadashi needed both of them and would probably relapse if deprived of his younger sibling's company, and so convinced the teen to continue visiting every day. They weren't close friends but they definitely weren't enemies anymore-they were working together for a common goal: making sure that Tadashi got better and stayed that way.

And better Tadashi got. Having Fred back had a drastic improvement on his health. After that first turbulent night in which none of the family dared sleep for fear that he might slip away from them again, the merman recovered with almost shocking speed. His appetite returned, the color came back to his cheeks, and the light was back in his eyes. After a few days of rest, he had definitely stabilized. After a week, he was back to his old cheery self. If anything, he appeared to be even better off than he had been before falling ill, and the entire family was immensely relieved. Still, despite their joy that Tadashi was better, neither Hiro nor Fred were able to forget the horror of watching the man that they both cared so much about almost leaving them because of their own faults and, as a result, they were both determined to do whatever they could to make up for their sins. Unfortunately, in their efforts, they became almost smothering, and Tadashi was not going to stand for it.

"Seriously," he says in frustration one day when, upon briefly mentioning being hungry, the two other men started rushing to find something for him to eat. "This needs to stop. NOW."

"W-what do you mean, nii-chan?" Hiro asks, looking at him in confusion. "A-are we doing something wrong? Because we can fi-"

"NO!" Tadashi groans. "I just-you two need to stop treating me like I'm a fragile doll that's going to break if you so much as breathe too loudly in my direction! It's exhausting and annoying as heck and it's not healthy for any of us!"

"W-we just want to do whatever we can to make you feel better," Fred answers, feeling concerned. "After everything that happened… We couldn't forgive ourselves if we caused you to get sick again!"

"That's the problem-you're not forgiving yourselves!" Tadashi cries, slapping the water with the end of his tail in frustration. "Look, what happened happened. But neither of you knew that making Fred go away would make me sick-"

"But I should have!" Hiro interrupts. "I should have known that what I was doing would-"

"But you DIDN'T." Tadashi states firmly. "And when you realized what happened, you did your best to make it right. You have apologized to me more times than I care to count, and I keep telling you that I've forgiven you. Now you two need to get over yourselves and stop playing this stupid blame game, or so help me, I will stop talking to both of you because I am not putting up with this garbage! Now I'm going down to my room for ten minutes, and by the time I come back, you two had better have worked out your issues or I'm going back down and staying there until you have your shit together! Got it?"

The two stare at him with a mixture of astonishment and slight fear as he ducks under water, his tail lightly flicking a rainbow spray of water droplets as he dives.

"I… Is he serious?" Fred finally manages to get out.

"Knowing him like I do? Yeah, he is," Hiro answers, still seeming shocked.

"But… What exactly does he want us to do?" Fred asks, feeling dumbfounded. "I mean, we're not doing anything wrong-we're just trying to take care of him! Is that such a bad thing?"

"Exactly!" Hiro agrees. "He gets physically ill when we leave him alone, but then he gets all mad at us for spending 'too much' time with him?"

"And what does he mean by 'forgive ourselves'?" Fred adds. "That makes no sense!"

"This is bull crap…" Hiro huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't even know what we're supposed to be doing!"

"Me neither," Fred agrees, copying his actions.

They sit there in silence for a few minutes, both alone with their thoughts. Finally, it's Fred who breaks the silence.

"Do you… Do you think I've been hovering too much?" he asks quietly. "I haven't exactly given Dashi a moment of peace since he came back to us…"

"But you've just been trying to make sure that he doesn't get sick again!" Hiro answers quickly.

"Yeah...But, I mean, he doesn't exactly look sick now, does he?" Fred points out.

"Well… That's true," Hiro finally concedes quietly.

"He said something about 'forgiving myself'... Do you think maybe he means he thinks I've been doing all of this stuff because I still feel guilty for leaving in the first place?" Fred says after another minute's thought.

"Have you?" Hiro asks, tossing him a curiously concerned look.

"Well… Yeah, kinda," Fred admits.

"But why? That's crazy!" Hiro cries. "I was the one who made you leave!"

"You didn't 'make' me do anything, I chose to leave!" Fred answers, feeling intense anger at himself welling up in his chest. "I-I should have stayed! I should have been stronger and known that it was wrong to leave Tadashi if I cared that much about him!"

"But isn't there that old saying that if you love someone, you have to be willing to let them go?" Hiro counters. "You were willing to let Tadashi go because you loved him! I…I was a selfish idiot, and I wasn't willing to let go, even though I should have…"

"You were just worried that you were losing Tadashi, though," Fred answers. "If our roles had been reversed, I probably would have done the same thing!"

"Maybe…" Hiro say quietly. "I just… I can't stop reliving that moment when I saw him almost d-die… And I can't help feeling like, if he had, it w-would have been a-all my f-fault…" he whispers, a few tears beginning to roll down his cheeks at the admission. "I-I almost lost Dashi because I was being so s-selfish…"

"Hey." Fred reaches over and wraps his arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug. "Look, we both had about equal parts in what happened. We both made really, really bad decisions that were completely fucked up. But… I think that maybe what Tadashi was trying to tell us was that, if we keep reliving all the bad stuff that happened… Then we're going to have a really hard time enjoying the time that we have with him now…"

"That's true…" Hiro finally admits quietly.

"So… If he's not mad at us for what happened… Maybe we need to stop being mad at ourselves?" Fred continues.

"M-maybe…" Hiro agrees. "But… How are we supposed to do that?"

"I don't know, exactly," Fred admits. "I guess it's probably going to take a while… But maybe we can start by stopping acting so guilty around Tadashi and focusing on just enjoy being with him? I think that's what he wants, right?"

"That does kind of sound like what he was saying," Hiro says after considering Fred's words.

"All right then." Fred takes a long, cleansing breath before saying out loud, "Okay. If it makes Tadashi happy, and for my own sake of mind, I'm going to do my best to stop reliving all the bad stuff and start concentrating on the good stuff now. You hear that, Tadashi?"

"Same here!" Hiro agrees, hoping that his brother was listening.

"That's all I can ask," the merman answers, grinning as he surfaces a few feet from them.

"Wait-were you there the entire time just listening to us?" Hiro asks, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

"Maybe…" Tadashi answers with a slight smile. "I mean, how else was I supposed to make sure that you two were actually working out your issues?"

"That's not fair!" Hiro cries, looking slightly annoyed. "You said you were going to your room, and you didn't!"

"So sue me," Tadashi replies with a teasing grin.

"Hm… Hiro, if I remember correctly, wasn't one of Tadashi's requests that we stop treating him like he was fragile?" Fred says, turning to the younger boy, his voice falsely calm as a mischievous glint lights in his eyes.

"Yes, yes he did," Hiro agrees after a moment's thought, picking up on the fanboy's meaning.

"So don't you think we should listen to him and follow that request?"

"Oh, most definitely!"

"Guys? Guys, what are you doing?" Tadashi asks, backing up slightly and looking worried.

"Charge!" Fred cries. Instantly he and the younger boy jump into the pool, splashing Tadashi with as much force as they can.

"What… the freaking… heck?" Tadashi laughs as he wipes the water out of his eyes before grinning at the other two. "Oh, you did NOT just do that! You should know better than to start a water fight with a mer! You two are going DOWN!"

The next two hours were happily spent in splashing, scheming, screaming, and overall just having a good time, for the first time in a long time just goofing off and having fun together. Tadashi had been right-it felt a lot better doing stuff like this than spending all their time awkwardly refusing to even look at each other because they felt so guilty about everything that had happened. They couldn't change the past. But they could change the future, and that started with letting go and just enjoying the present.

Eventually the guys tire from the fight and they all turn to lazily floating in the pool, enjoying the feeling of the warmth of the sun that came in through the glass window in the ceiling and not needing to say anything. But when Hiro makes the comment that he's going to get out to go make some lunch, he asks Fred to come with him, saying that he needed some help with something. Tadashi reassures his boyfriend that he'll be perfectly fine on his own for a while, and, not wanting to seem like he was smothering him again, he agrees and gets out to follow the younger boy.

As soon as they're out in the hallway, Hiro pulls him off to the side, saying, "There's something I need to talk to you about."

"O-okay," Fred agrees, feeling slightly concerned. "I-Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong!" Hiro hurries to reassure him. "Just the opposite, actually!"

"All right, I'm listening," Fred says, intrigued.

"Dashi's birthday is coming up in about a week," Hiro answers, scuffing the ground lightly with his toes. "Usually we try to do something special for him, but I was thinking-maybe you'd like to help out in the planning this year? Only if you want to, of course!" he hurries to add.

"W-want to? I'd be honored!" Fred replies, practically beaming. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind? I mean, it is kind of a family thing…"

"Well, like it or not, you're a part of this family now, so yeah, you are definitely allowed," Hiro answers with a slight smirk.

"I… You guys really think of me as family?" Fred asks, feeling tears start to choke up in his throat.

"Oh for gosh sakes, don't go getting all emotional on me or I'm going to take all of that back!" Hiro groans.

"Right, sorry, sorry!" Fred apologizes. "I promise I won't get emotional. Just… thank you. No one's really called me a part of their family before…"

"Well, now they have," Hiro answers with a slight smile before lightly nudging him and saying, "So, 'bro', as your first official act as a part of this family, think you can help me make up some sandwiches for lunch?"

"Sure thing," Fred answers with a warm grin, "...bro."


	12. Chapter 12

The next week was spent in a flurry of secret planning sessions, stealing minutes out of time meant to be used for cleaning to work out details and rushed conversations whispered when Tadashi was out of hearing range. Fortunately by now both Tadashi and Aunt Cass were used to Hiro going all out for the elder Hamada's birthday so they put up with Fred and Hiro acting like they were planning the heist of the century. It was about halfway through the week that, after much deliberation, Fred finally hit upon the right gift for Tadashi-a gift that he knew would mean more to him than anything else. He pitched the idea to Hiro, knowing that he would need his help to pull it off, and to Aunt Cass, knowing that he would need her approval. Miraculously, both agreed, and so the preparation for the biggest surprise of all for Tadashi's birthday was set into motion. Fred was able to complete his part with relatively little difficulty, although he had to call upon Aunt Cass for information that he didn't know. Hiro, on the other hand, bore a great brunt of the weight-it all came down to whether or not he would be able to complete his part to see if the desired goal would even be possible. Fortunately, though, Hiro was a child prodigy and a robotics genius and so, late in the evening on the eve of Tadashi's birthday, everything came together like a neatly tied bow.

"You. Are. AMAZING!" Fred cries, grinning as Hiro shows off his handiwork in the privacy of his own bedroom-they couldn't let Tadashi see it for fear that he'd start asking questions and ruin the surprise (not that he wasn't already trying to get information out of them-they'd both taken to carrying earplugs just in case his patience wore out and he took to more devious means of ferreting out the truth.)

"Well, we won't really know for sure if it works until Tadashi tries it out himself," Hiro answers, wiping his brow and looking tired but pleased. "Still, from the tests I've run on it, it seems like it should, so here's hoping for the best!"

"Again-AMAZING!" Fred cries before laughing and shaking his head. "Seriously-thank you for being willing to help out with all of this. I couldn't have done this without you."

"I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for Tadashi," Hiro says flatly before grinning and nudging the other man when he sees the crestfallen look on the his face.. "I'm messing with you! Seriously, you need to learn what sarcasm is, bro! Really-I'm glad to do it for both your and Tadashi's sakes. This was a really, really cool idea on your part. I know I never would have even come up with something like this on my own-or, if I had, I would have been too scared for my nii-chan's 'safety' to ever go through with it. But you-you're crazy enough to have the idea, push through with it despite the obstacles, and then actually manage to pull it off!"

"Thanks, I think?" Fred replies, not sure if that was really a compliment or not but deciding to take the positive spin on it.

Hiro grins at him before letting out a yawn and checking the clock on the wall. "Aw man, it's getting late," he says, beginning to pack up his work. "We'd better both be heading to bed if we actually want to be awake to give Tadashi his surprise tomorrow!"

"True that!" Fred laughs.

"You going to go see him before leaving?" Hiro asks with a knowing smile.

"You know he'd never forgive me if I didn't say goodnight to him," Fred answers with a smile of his own.

"That is true!" Hiro agrees, rolling his eyes but looking more amused than annoyed, like he would have only a couple of weeks back. "Well, have fun with that-but not too much fun!" he adds, his tone playful but Fred knew that he meant what he said. The younger boy might have lightened up about the fanboy's relationship with his brother, but he was still extremely protective of his nii-chan and wouldn't stand for Fred doing anything that he thought might even potentially hurt him.

"Aye aye, captain!" Fred agrees, giving him a mock salute but keeping his own voice serious enough to let the younger boy knew that he didn't take the warning lightly.

"All right then-goodnight, Fred," HIro says, smiling as he heads for the bathroom to start getting ready for bed. "See you bright and early!"

"That you will," Fred answers, grinning slightly before letting himself into the pool room via Hiro's own personal entrance to it.

He walks into the room, the door latching shut behind him with a soft "click", before scanning the area for the merman. Part of him wondered if Tadashi might have already gone to bed, but he didn't get five steps in before his boyfriend's head surfaced above water at the edge of the pool nearest him.

"Hey!" Tadashi says, grinning as he sees Fred.

"Hey yourself," the fanboy answers, purposefully taking his time walking to the pool to tease him.

"I was afraid you weren't coming tonight," Tadashi tells him, giving him a fake pout. "You've been so caught up planning my birthday I think you forgot about me…"

"You know I could never do that," Fred replies with a warm smile as he crouches down next to the edge of the pool. "And besides, it'll all be worth it-trust me."

"It had better be," Tadashi lightly huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as he pretend-glares up at his boyfriend. "Are you at least going to kiss me goodnight?"

"Don't I always?" Fred answers playfully, reaching out an arm to him.

Tadashi takes it, pulling himself up out of the pool and onto the curved lip so that he could be on the same level as his boyfriend. Once he was sure that he was properly settled, Fred wraps his arms lightly around his waist and pulls him into a warm, sweet kiss. He still marveled at how Tadashi could get his head spinning so quickly, and how, instead of losing their power, the kisses only seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.

"So," Tadashi say teasingly when they finally break for air, resting his forehead against Fred's, "you sure there's nothing that you want to tell me about tomorrow?"

"Nice try," Fred answers with a light smirk. "But even your kisses aren't going to get that out of me."

"Well, it was worth a try," Tadashi chuckles before pulling him back in for one last quick kiss. "See you in the morning?" he asks when he lets go and Fred stands up, brushing loose sand off of his shorts.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Fred promises, and he means it with all of his heart.

There were many, many things that could have gone wrong and ruined their plans for the day, but when Fred wakes up in the morning and takes a look out the window to find a beautiful, cloudless blue sky with the sun shining down on the world as if it too wanted to be a part of the festivities, he had a very good feeling that things were going to turn out just fine.

In the kitchen, he bolts down a light breakfast-he wasn't sure exactly what the plans for the morning meal were at the Hamadas', and he'd never turn down free food if it was offered to him, but he figured that it was probably best to be prepared just in case (he wanted to make sure that he had plenty of energy for everything that they were doing that day!)

As soon as he dumps his cereal bowl in the kitchen sink (despite having servants, Fred didn't like to force the kitchen staff to go out of their way to make a meal as simple as breakfast for him unless his parents were home or there was company and so he usually fended for himself in the mornings), he races for the door, unable to wait a second longer than was necessary to go see his boyfriend and start the metaphorical ball rolling! Still, even as he runs, he stops to check every few feet that he hadn't lost or forgotten the package that he had (after much difficulty) wrapped himself for Tadashi and which was so crucial to the big surprise at the end of the day. He manages to make it to the mansion without managing to drop, misplace, or otherwise mangle the present, something his is extremely grateful for. Once inside the mansion, though, he realizes a slight problem-he doesn't hear any signs of life in the household. Was he too early? If so, what was he supposed to do? Just wait here, or would that be considered rude? He stands in the main entryway, feeling torn as to what his next step should be, when out of the silence he hears quiet noises coming from down the hallway to his left. Well, that seemed like the most logical place to go to find the answers to his questions and, hopefully, to find out if he wasn't the only one awake in the household, and so he follows the trail of sound through the passageways.

As he goes, a delicious smell is added to the sound until he finds himself, of all places, in the kitchen. He figured that maybe Aunt Cass had gotten up early to make breakfast but, to his great surprise, instead of her he finds Hiro working at the stove, on one side working on frying bacon, on the other side flipping pancakes. Fred watches him in slight shock for a minute-outside of sandwiches, he had no idea that the teen could actually cook! Still, it made sense given that the gene probably ran in the family. Damn, was there anything this family couldn't do?

"Oh, hey," Hiro says, looking slightly startled as he turns to see Fred standing in the doorway.

"Hi!" Fred answers, waving awkwardly. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you!"

"Naw, it's all good," Hiro reassures him, pulling the bacon off of the stove and putting it onto a hotpad. "I just didn't hear you come in!"

"It's been rumored that my ancestors were ninjas," Fred says secretively.

"Wait, really?" Hiro asks, his interest piqued. "'Cause we have some samurai in our family lineage, maybe they crossed paths or-"

"No, I was kidding, and now I just feel even more inferior," Fred groans. "Seriously, all I've got is some prince who was thirteenth in line to the throne and was sent into exile for trying to murder some queen. How come you guys have all the cool stuff and I'm just so… vanilla?"

"Vanilla?" Hiro raises an eyebrow.

"Plain and boring!" Fred sighs. "Seriously, I don't see how I'd even be any competition if Tadashi had the choice between me and the rest of the guys out there… If I hadn't happened to be the first human outside of you guys that he ever met…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hiro puts his hands up defensively. "I don't do emotional stuff, especially not this early in the morning!"

Seeing the heartbroken look on Fred's face, he groans and says, "Okay, fine, I'll try to play 'counselor', but you have to get over here and help me with breakfast!"

Fred eagerly does as told, scurrying over and holding the plate that the teen hands him.

"All right-you know me, I don't b.s. around," Hiro says, flipping the pancakes. "And I don't do 'gentle' or 'touchy feely'."

"Right…" Fred agrees, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"That said-honestly, I really do think that, even if Tadashi was human and had had his choice of guys, that he wouldn't have picked you or someone like you," Hiro continues. "Trust me-I may be his little bro and he tries to keep me 'sheltered', but I know what he's into-y'know, in _that_ way. For one thing, you're both uber nerds, and that's really important to him, so you already chalk up some points there. For another, you balance him out. I might know nothing about relationships, but you're calm when he gets all emotional and you know how to make him laugh when he's stressed out. Nothing phases you-I mean, hell, you meet a merman and instead of freaking out or anything, he tells you he wants to kiss you and you're just cool with it? Granted, Dashi was probably going all mer on you, but still!" Hiro chuckles wryly. "You think that being 'vanilla' is bad? Given our family tree is full of nuts and craziness, he needs someone to help thin that out. You're like… the ice cream in the bottom of the sundae glass and Tadashi is the hot fudge. One without the other is good, but if you tried to just add more fudge to plain fudge, you get an overdose and you end up sick. You mix ice cream and fudge together, though, and you get something awesome!"

"Ice cream? You're really going to go with that?" Fred laughs.

"Hey, you mentioned vanilla, and besides, I'm cooking right now, so sue me!" Hiro snarks back.

"Point taken!"

Fred takes a moment to process all of this as Hiro starts taking the now-ready pancakes off of the griddle. "So…" he finally says. "You really think that I still have a chance-even once he hopefully gets legs and can start being around other people?"

"Is that what you're worried about? Seriously?" Hiro says, raising an eyebrow. "Dude-you do realize that in order for him to become human it has to be _true love's kiss_? I think that if you're at that point, he's going to be pretty gone on you do you don't need to worry about anyone else getting in the way."

"True…" Fred agrees, smiling slightly. He hadn't really thought of that. It had been there in the back of his mind, of course, but he'd mainly just been concentrating on getting Tadashi that kiss-he hadn't really thought about what it really meant. A lot of people might have been scared when they came to that revelation-true love? That was a pretty big commitment right there. But honestly? Fred couldn't think of anyone he'd rather have that with than with Tadashi.

"Oh, and you know what I said about knowing what my brother was into?" Hiro adds, smirking slightly at the dopey smile that had ended up on Fred's face.

"Yeah," Fred agrees, coming out of his slight daze.

"Well… Let's just say that Dashi's always had a bit of a thing for the traditional Prince Charming types," Hiro responds with a wry chuckle. "So the fact that you've got long hair? Oh yeah, he's all over that."

"H-he is?" Fred cries, his hand involuntarily going to the back of his neck-he hadn't even realized that Tadashi actually thought he was attractive! Of course he knew that he found Tadashi majorly hot in an adorable sort of way, but he hadn't really expected the feeling to be mutual…

"Don't expect me to go giving you any details," Hiro answers, rolling his eyes and looking vaguely uncomfortable with the topic, "but I'll give you a hint: you ever want to really get him going? Try a ponytail-it's, like, a weird fetish thing he has. Don't ask how I know that, I have, like, mental scars, but yeah, trust me. A ponytail would do it. Just don't try it if anyone else is in the room because he might seriously go down on you, and I do NOT want to see that!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Fred says, unable to keep from grinning slightly. Huh, Hiro had turned out to be a pretty useful source of information!  
"Do not even tell me what you're thinking about, I do NOT want to know," Hiro groans before taking the plate from him and shoving a tray into his hands. "Hold that. I've gotta finish putting together Tadashi's breakfast before it goes cold!"

"Out of curiosity-I think it's awesome that you can cook, I wish I could, but doesn't your aunt usually rule the kitchen around here?" Fred asks as Hiro works on putting together a plate of food.

"Well, yeah," Hiro agrees. "But we kind of have an unspoken rule for special occasions-since she goes all out killing herself on the rest of the meals for the day, I make breakfast."

"Makes sense," Fred agrees, nodding in understanding, only to feel his stomach churn as he sees Hiro pull something dark red and crustacean-y out of a steaming pot and put it on top of the innocent looking stack of pancakes. "I-is that…?" he starts to ask.

"A crayfish? Yeah," Hiro agrees, shaking his head slightly. "As much as it weirds me out, Dashi is mer so he eats like one. You probably noticed that we eat a lot of fish around here? He likes human food fine, but if you really want him to enjoy something, it's gotta have seafood in it. Even if it's something that, for no reason that is good or holy, should have seafood in it."

"How exactly does that work?" Fred asks, remembering the question that had been bugging him for weeks and he needed to know the answer to. "I mean, aren't mers, supposed to… y'know be friends with fish and be able to talk to them and stuff?"

"Okay, that was something Disney came up with to make the story more 'cutesy' and add in unnecessary comic relief," Hiro responds with a slight smile. "And it's a good thing, too, 'cause if Dashi's any marker, even if they could understand them, the fish would still be in trouble 'cause mers are all about the seafood. Usually raw, but for our sake Tadashi's willing to eat it cooked so that we don't get too grossed out. The way he explains it-and he doesn't exactly know how he knows this, I guess it's just some inborn knowledge that comes with having the tail or something-fish are to mers what all the different animals are to us. Some are wild creatures they observe from afar that don't even want to get close to them, like regular wild animals, and so they just leave each other alone. There are others that are kind of like chickens or cows for them-they're the ones that tend to get used for food. And then there are apparently some sea creatures that are more intelligent, like dolphins and seahorses, that are kind of the mer equivalent of dogs and cats and horses-y'know, ones that can be domesticated to be pets or work animals. I know that Dashi would love a dolphin or a seal, and it's not like we haven't looked into that before. But every time he tells us that he wouldn't feel right keeping something that needs the space of the ocean trapped in a pool like he is. He always says that maybe if he gets legs someday he'd like to have a cat, like Aunt Cass."

"I see," Fred answers vaguely. Wow, what was it about this family and liking to give information dumps? Still, most of that had made at decent sense, so he decided to just go with it. And hm… A cat? Well, they'd still have to wait until the kiss to happen, but he could imagine an adorable scene of him and Tadashi going to adopt a kitten at the local animal shelter. Oh yeah, that was totally going on his bucket list!

"Did I just blow the circuits of your brain or something?" Hiro laughs, seeing the expression on the fanboy's face.

"Nope, think I'm good!" Fred answers with a grin before adding, "All right, so, you ready to go start this birthday off right?"

"Totally!" Hiro agrees, happily heading towards the door as Fred carefully follows with the tray. "Tadashi, here we come!"


	13. Chapter 13

"What is that?" Fred asks curiously as they enter the pool room and Hiro pulls a remote control and a small device that looks something like an alarm clock that had gotten into a fight with a miniature submarine.

"This," Hiro answers with a slight grin, "is how we wake Tadashi up without being in close enough proximity to get murdered for it!"

"I'll take it he's not a morning person?" Fred asks as he watches Hiro turn the machine on and put it in the water.

"Please-he's convinced that getting up at noon is early," Hiro replies, rolling his eyes before starting to direct the submarine with his remote.

"Wow-really?" Fred asks. For some reason he'd pegged Tadashi as a morning person given how cheerful he usually was-then again, usually he didn't see him until afternoon, so maybe that had something to do with it.

"Then again, he is a total night owl," Hiro admits as he continues to steer. "He's been know to stay up to four, five in the morning inventing. He claims that mers usually did their important business at night so it's a miracle that he's actually awake during the day at all, but I say that's just an excuse."

"Well… as long as it's not hurting him, right?" Fred says after thinking that over for a minute.

"I guess." Hiro shrugs in response, his concentration on his work in the pool.

"Um, is it a stupid question to ask why we are waking him up so early, given it is his birthday and all so he should be allowed to sleep in if he wants to?" Fred asks.

"Tell me you can honestly wait any longer to get things started," Hiro answers, flashing him a slight smile.

"Okay, true that!" Fred admits with a smile of his own.

"All right, almost there," Hiro says, checking the little screen on the remote control. "Almost, almost… Bulls eye!" He cheers as a red light flashes on the remote.

"What exactly did you do?" Fred asks, feeling vaguely nervous.

"Just gave him a little wake up call," HIro replies with a mischievous grin. "He'll probably be up here in about a minute once he's coherent to shut the thing off!"

"Should I be concerned about how angry he's going to be?"

"Let's put it this way-I may or may not end up using you as a human shield."

"Gee, thanks!"

"Hey, every man for himself when dealing with an incensed mer!"

True to his word, Tadashi did surface a few minutes later and looking thoroughly annoyed.

"Seriously, Hiro? For gosh sakes, it is my birthday, you could have let me sleep to a more godly hour!" he grumbles, tossing the submarine clock out of the pool and onto the sand.

"Well, I might have," Hiro answers, feigning innocence. "But you had a guest and I thought it would be rude to keep them waiting!"

"Nice, make me take the blame," Fred hisses before offering Tadashi an apologetic wave. "Um, hi! Happy birthday?"

"F-Fred!" Tadashi looks slightly caught off guard as he realizes that his boyfriend was in the room. "I-I didn't expect you to be here this early!"

"Sorry?" Fred answers apologetically. "I was kind of excited to see you…"

"N-no, i-it's fine!" Tadashi hurries to reassure him, blushing slightly. "I… Just… Ah, give me a minute to go get ready for the day and I'll be right back up!" He dives quickly back under, leaving Fred to wonder what had him so wound up.

"Um… Should I ask?" He finally turns to Hiro for help. "I mean… It's not like I don't see him shirtless everyday and he doesn't really wear clothes, so…"

"It's the hair!" Hiro laughs, grinning slightly. "It's pretty much the only thing he's picky about, which I guess considering there's not much else he can do appearance-wise. But you didn't notice?"

"Notice what?" Fred asks, his brain searching for answers but coming up blank.

"Bed head-if he doesn't comb it out and do whatever else it is that he does to it in the morning, it pretty much looks like mine does on a regular basis," Hiro answers, gesturing to his own messy raven's nest. "I don't see a problem with it-it's pretty much as much a part of the family lineage as the mer stuff!-but he hates anyone seeing him before he's 'ready' in the morning."

"...Oh my gosh, how did I miss that?" Fred cries, instantly wanting to slap himself-he'd totally missed out on seeing Tadashi with adorable morning hair! Why was fate so cruel?!

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see it some other time," Hiro tells him with a slight smirk, lightly patting him consolingly on the arm.

"Yeah," Fred mumbles, knowing that that was probably going to be a long ways down the road unless he got lucky and caught Tadashi off guard in the morning again somehow. Yeah… The likelihood of that was not great if he valued his life. Still, he brightens as he thinks of the day ahead. Maybe he missed out on the bed head, but he would get to see his boyfriend's adorable expression when they gave him his surprise that night and that was probably going to be a thousand times better!  
"So," Tadashi says when he surfaces a few minutes later, his hair now in impeccable order (Fred still had to wonder how he did that-waterproof hair products? That was a thing, right? Well, even if it wasn't, he was sure that the two brothers could have figured something out and made their own.) "Since you got me up so early, I'm assuming that there really is a good reason for this?"

"The best!" Hiro agrees with a grin. "We brought you breakfast!"

"Oh my gosh, Hiro…" Tadashi's slight annoyance instantly melts into a warm smile. "You didn't have to get up early to make me breakfast!"

"Well, honestly Fred and I were both too excited to sleep in any later than we did so we might as well have done something!"

"You helped him?" Tadashi asks, looking over at Fred in disbelief. "Just how early did you wake up?"

"Technically I arrived as he was finishing so I mainly just held the tray," Fred admits with an embarrassed smile. "So not that early!"

"Still…" Tadashi grins up at him. "Thank you."

"Er hem-are you forgetting who actually made the food?" Hiro asks, shooting him a playfully annoyed look.

"Thank you, otouto," Tadashi answers, holding his arms out to him. "C'mon-birthday hugs?"

"Birthday hugs," Hiro sighs, looking resigned to it as he let his brother pull him into a warm embrace before squirming away. "All right, enough of that! We've got too much to do today! So Fred and I are gonna go finish getting things set up while you finish eating that-and you'd better be done with that crayfish before we get back, because even though I love you I cannot stomach the thought of someone being crazy enough to eat seafood this early in the morning."

"If I have to do that, then am I at least allowed to asks what all you have planned?" Tadashi asks in a wheedling tone.

"You can ask, but you won't get any answers from us," Hiro answers firmly. "You'll find out soon enough, so just get eating!"

"All right," Tadashi agrees with an over-dramatic sigh as Fred puts the tray down in front of him. "But maybe I'll be too upset to be able to actually enjoy it…"

"Nice try, bro." Hiro smirks. "But you and I both know you're never going to turn down crayfish."

"Touche!" Tadashi laughs before playfully shooing them towards the door.

"So, is everything ready?" Fred asks as he and Hiro head out into the hall.

"Pretty much," Hiro answers. "I want to go check and make sure that none of the decorations we put up got knocked down last night or anything, and we'll probably have to wait until Aunt Cass is up to actually get things started since she'll kill us if we don't, but overall I think everything is in place!"

"And the surprise?" Fred asks, lowering his voice.  
"All set!" Hiro agrees, grinning. "It's with the other presents, but I made sure to put it off to the side so we can pull it out when it's time. How about you?"

"Yeah, I totally-Oh, crap! I totally left it in the kitchen!" Fred cries, his eyes going wide with the realization.

"Then go get it!" Hiro tells him. "I'll go check on the party stuff, just meet me out back with it and we'll hide it with my part!"

"Sounds good!" Fred agrees, hurrying off to go retrieve it. He was so intent on his purpose, in fact, that he didn't realize until he was already in the kitchen that someone else was already occupying it.

"O-oh! U-um, hi Ms. Hamada," Fred says, flushing slightly when he realizes that she was probably wondering what the heck he was doing running around in her house this early in the morning.

"Good morning, Fred," Aunt Cass answers, smiling at him over her coffee mug, looking completely unperturbed. Apparently she was at least somewhat used to this given she'd been taking care of two adolescent boys for years.

"Sorry for disturbing you," Fred apologizes, picking up the package from where he'd left it on the counter. "I was helping Hiro with breakfast this morning and kind of left this here!"

"Is that it?" Aunt Cass asks, her eyes lighting up with interest.

"Well, just a small part of it-the part Hiro made is already out with the other presents, but yeah, this is my portion," Fred agrees. He wasn't completely surprised to see the older woman looking slightly emotional as she smiled at him. He was caught off guard, though, when she actually pulls him into a tight hug.

"Thank you," she whispers fiercely. "For everything you've done for my boys. I-I never even thought that I'd get to see a day like this one. And now, with this… Just thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," Fred answers, not really sure how to respond but deciding to just go with it. His mom had never really been a "hug person", but he liked to think that this is what he'd been missing out on all of these years. In an odd way, Aunt Cass had almost become an adopted mom to him over the past few weeks, and while he didn't exactly feel comfortable saying that out loud to her yet, he hoped that she could at least sense it.

"All right," Aunt Cass says when she finally lets him go, quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and laughing. "What do you say we go get this celebration started, huh?"

"Sounds good!" Fred agrees, grinning as he follows her out into the hallway.

"There you are!" Hiro says when they reach the sitting room, looking a combination of relieved and slightly annoyed. "What took you so long?"

"We were just having a nice little chat," Aunt Cass answers, giving Fred a warm smile.

"Oh, Aunt Cass, you're up!" Hiro cries, apparently noticing her for the first time. "Awesome! All right, that means we just have to get Fred's present out with the other presents and then we'll be good to go!"

"Why don't you go ahead and run it out and we'll meet you at the door?" Aunt Cass suggests. "It'll take us a moment to get Tadashi situated, after all."

"Sounds good!" Hiro agrees, holding his hands out to Fred. The older boy hands the package over to him and, without another word, the teen races back off through the house.

"If I could bottle that energy…" Aunt Cass says, smiling and shaking her head slightly before scanning her thumbprint at the door and, together, they walk inside.

"Good morning!" Tadashi greets his aunt, grinning as they approach. He looked much more awake now, and Fred couldn't help but think maybe it had something to do with the now-empty coffee mug on his tray.

"Good morning, and happy birthday, sweetheart," Aunt Cass replies, wrapping her arms around him.

"Thanks," Tadashi answers grinning up at her.

"Eighteen… It's hard to believe that my little angel is all grown up now," she says with a slightly teary smile of her own.

"Hey-I may be officially an adult now, but I'll always be your angel, okay?" he responds, pulling her into a warm hug.

"Okay," she agrees, giving him one last squeeze before letting go. "All right, I promised myself that I wouldn't cry today, and I won't! We're supposed to be celebrating, and that's exactly what we're going to do!"

"I'm all over that!" Fred agrees, heading towards the cove and returning a minute later with the wheelchair.

"W-what's that for?" Tadashi asks before his whole face lit up with excitement. "A-am I getting to go outside again?"

"Indeed you are!" Fred answers, beaming at how excited he looked. "You're actually going to get to spend the whole day out, weather permitting-and it looks like today is going to be absolutely beautiful, so that shouldn't be a problem at all!"

"I-I can't believe this," Tadashi whispers, looking completely overjoyed before crying, "I get to spend my entire birthday OUTSIDE! This is the best surprise EVER!"

"Well, I'm glad you like it," Fred answers, lightly pecking him on the cheek, secretly thinking that if this how Tadashi was acting at just being told that he was going to be spending the day in the garden, he was going to have an actual heart attack when he received the real surprise later. Still, better not to think about that-they had a ways to go before the presents were opened, and he couldn't get too excited thinking about it or he'd manage to give the whole thing away!

Hiro joined them at the door, and together the little party made their way through the house and out to the garden. From Tadashi's gasp, Fred could tell that they'd done a good job on decorating. Streamers hung from trees and the patio awning. Balloons in varying shades of blue and green were tied in bunches to pretty much anything that wouldn't float away. To some people it might have looked kiddish, but it was something Tadashi had never really be able to experience before and Fred knew that, to him, it was absolutely perfect.


	14. Chapter 14

The morning passed quickly, but not for lack of fun. For Tadashi, it was enough just to actually be outside, but his family and boyfriend were not content to let the day pass without making things as festive as possible. Fortunately when Fred had ordered the outdoor pool for the garden for the elder Hamada to use, he'd made sure to get one with lot of extra space, which meant one thing: water games. He and Hiro happily changed into their swimming trunks and joined Tadashi in the pool for a morning full of Marco Polo, monkey in the middle, and fighting with pool noodles. Aunt Cass stayed clear of the splash zone for the most part, but managed to get pulled into things anyway when they needed to even out the teams for a chicken fight (she actually managed to unseat Hiro from Tadashi almost as often as she got knocked off of Fred!) Eventually, though, she had to leave to go get started on lunch, so the guys decided to just enjoy cooling off for a while.

Fred couldn't help but notice as he looked over at Tadashi just how _happy_ he looked. Even with his eyes closed, his head resting against the rim of the pool, he was practically glowing. There was no doubt, this was the world Tadashi was meant to be a part of, the world he was meant to fill with his genius ideas and beautiful joy that seemed infectious, spreading to everyone around him. And, as much as Fred was a little scared to share him with the rest of the world, he knew that that's exactly what he needed to do and, once the day came, that he'd be right there by his side, watching him glow like the brilliant star that he was.

"What are you looking at?" Tadashi asks, startling Fred out of his thoughts. The merman was blushing slightly, something which, if it was even possible, made him look even cuter.

"Just thinking about how lucky I am to have such an amazing boyfriend," Fred answers with a grin, Tadashi rewarding him with an even deeper blush.

"Oh my gosh, guys-before anything happens, remember that there is a child in the pool!" Hiro says defensively.

"HIRO!" Tadahsi cries, looking absolutely horrified and, in retaliation, splashed his younger brother with water, absolutely drenching him. Within moments it devolved into another water fight, and Fred couldn't help but grin as he joins in. Just as Tadashi's place was out here, Fred had finally found his place-being right here beside him.

After a delicious lunch of crab cakes, a rest period was mandated by Aunt Cass, claiming that she didn't want anyone cramping up from going swimming too soon after eating. Fred knew, though, that she probably just wanted to be allowed to take a short nap on a lawnchair without having to worry about being splashed. As soon as the mandatory thirty minutes are over, though, the boys happily start their games right back up.

The afternoon passed both quickly and with agonizing slowness for everyone but Tadashi, the time for presents drawing ever closer. If the merman noticed the growing tension in the air, he chose not to mention it, instead choosing to just focus on the fun that they were having. The instant dinner is over, though, Hiro jumps out of his chair, crying, "All right, I can't wait any longer, Tadashi needs to open up his gifts _now_!"

"Dear, it is Tadashi's birthday-I think that decision is up to him," Aunt Cass replies mildly, although it was obvious that she was excited as well.

"I don't have any objections," Tadashi agrees, laying his empty plate off to the side of the pool.

"All right then, we're doing this!" Hiro cheers, hurrying to start bringing over the pile of gifts.

Fred flashes through waves of eagerness and overwhelming anxiety as Tadashi slowly and methodically works his way through the presents from his family. It was hard to even concentrate on what he was getting, although from what he was able to process it looked like there was an overwhelming amount of books (pre-treated by Hiro with the waterproofing spray, of course) varying from robotics manuals to the latest fantasy novels to volumes of manga.

Finally, though, Tadashi reaches the end of them and, gulping convulsively, the fanboy steps forward, bringing his package out from behind his back.

"H-Happy birthday, Tadashi," he says, unable to keep from grinning despite his nerves.

"Oh, Fred, you didn't have to-" Tadashi cries.

"But I wanted to," Fred answers with a warm smile, suddenly finding all of his fear gone as he leans in to kiss the beautiful man who had his heart.

"Thank you," Tadashi whispers as they finally break apart, and Fred knew that he meant for more than just the present. The fanboy nods before motioning for him to open the present.

Carefully, with almost agonizing slowness, Tadashi peels the tape off of the paper, finally opening it to find a nondescript flat white box.

"Open it," Fred urges when Tadashi looks up at him with curiosity.

"All right," Tadashi agrees, carefully pulling off the lid to reveal-

"Oh my gosh, Fred!" Tadashi' eyes instantly light up, a hand going to his mouth as he stares down at the contents. On top was a plain black cap with the initials SFN embroidered on it-San Fransokyo Ninjas, the mascot of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Below it was a red t-shirt emblazoned with the words "Property of SFIT", the words printed on a gold and black gear.

"Y-you know, if you wanted me to start covering up, you could have just told me instead of going to the trouble of buying me a shirt," Tadashi teases even as he gingerly sets the box to the side and pulls Fred into a tight hug.

"Don't thank me yet," Fred answers although he was unable to resist hugging him back. "There's more!"

"T-there's more?" Tadashi stammers, looking like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yep!" Fred agrees, handing the box back to the merman. "And don't worry about the shirt and hat getting wet-Hiro already fixed that!"  
"Of course he did," Tadashi chuckles, looking slightly emotional even as he gingerly lifts the shirt and hat out of the box, setting them on the edge of the pool before staring blankly down at a small packet of papers and brochures that were in the bottom of the box. "Um… paper?" he asks uncertainly before adding playfully, "Gee, you shouldn't have…"

"Read them, you goofball," Fred answers, gently whacking him while simultaneously signaling to Hiro, who eagerly nods and heads back to the porch.

"Okay," Tadashi agrees, reaching down and picking up the papers which, of course, were also pretreated before reading aloud, "Mr. Hamada, We are more than happy to have you joining us for the campus tour on monday, June 27. Enclosed please find all of the necessary-" He breaks off, staring up at Fred in shock, staring first at him and then back at the papers in his hands, then back at Fred. He's unable to speak for a full minute before he finally whispers, "W-what… I d-don't understand… This says that I-that I'm going on a… B-but th-that's impossible!"

"Correction, bro," Hiro answers, grinning as he comes over to the pool, holding his handiwork. "It _was_ impossible. But, with a little Hamada ingenuity, not anymore! Thanks to this awesome device right here, you're going to be able to stay out of water for an extended period of time, or at least you will be if it works like it should-and I know that it will! It'll fit neatly over you when you're in the chair, keeping you from drying out with regular puffs of moisture, and it doubles as an awesome way to keep people from seeing your tail! Just throw on a lap blanket over it and no one has to know that you're not just some regular kid in a wheelchair!"

"And that's where the shirt comes in too-we can't exactly have you going on a campus tour bare chested!" Fred adds with a slight smile. "As much as I enjoy that, I don't want to have to be beating off potential competition with a stick."

When Tadashi doesn't respond for a full minute, the other two guys exchange worried glances-had they said something wrong? They'd thought that he would be happy about his! Then he suddenly bursts into tears, and they both start panicking.

"Oh my gosh, Dashi, I'm sorry!" Hiro apologizes.

"Y-yeah! If you don't want to go, you don't have to go!" Fred hurries to add. "I swear we won't be offended!"

"N-not want to go?" Tadashi finally manages to get out, looking up so that they could see his smile. "I-I've never been so happy in my life…"

"Really?" Fred asks, his chest instantly flooding with relief.

"Yes, really!" Tadashi laughs through his tears before holding out his arms to the both of them. "Come here, both of you!"

They do as requested, and within moments they're being wrapped into a tight bear hug.

"What did I do to deserve you guys?" he whispers.

"Could say the same thing about you, nii-chan," Hiro answers with a warm smile as he hugs him back.

"We just wanted to make sure that you had the best birthday possible," Fred adds as the merman finally lets them go.

"It was all Fred's idea," Hiro says, giving the other man a warm grin.

"I-it was?" Tadashi asks, his eyes going wide as he stares at his boyfriend.

"Well, Hiro came up with the idea for how to keep you from drying out," Fred hurries to tell him, not wanting to take all of the credit.

"But your idea to schedule the tour and pretty much everything else," Hiro replies firmly.

"He's been working really, really hard to get all of this together in time," Aunt Cass adds with a proud smile.

Fred finds himself blushing under Tadashi's intense gaze and then, a moment later, he finds himself being pulled into a passionate kiss. He lets out a tiny moan of happiness, melting under the contact. The two had kissed before, but nothing like this. Somehow, as their lips move together, Tadashi's fingers tangling in Fred's hair and Fred leaning in to deepen it, there was a warmth, a spark, almost, that passed between them. It was more intense than anything Fred had ever felt before. It was incredible. Tadashi was incredible. And despite how insane it seemed, he was his and the fanboy never, ever wanted there to be a time when he wasn't.

"What do you think it'll be like?" Tadashi asks softly later that night. The moon was up and both men were floating quietly in the pool as the rest of the family cleaned up from the party.

"What do I think what'll be like?" Fred asks although he already has a pretty good idea of what the merman was asking.

"Me, being human," Tadashi responds, turning his head ever so slightly to look at him.

"Isn't it what you want?" Fred asks, detecting a note of fear in his tone and feeling concerned.

"Yeah, more than anything," Tadashi replies before admitting, "Well… Sort of. I mean, I want to stop being poolbound. But that doesn't mean I want to stop being mer completely…"

"I don't think you have anything to worry about," Fred answers firmly. "Trust me, I've read enough fantasy novels, I think you'll still find a way to be mer if you really want to be. Even if it's just when you're in water or on nights with full moons or something crazy like that-"

"So I'll be a weremer?" Tadashi laughs.

"Exactly!" Fred replies with a warm grin.

"I guess I wouldn't mind that," Tadashi says, smiling slightly at the thought before adding, "And, even if I do lose it completely… It'll be worth it. I am just so ready to be able to be out of that pool-of any pool, really, even this one-and be able to finally go live my life. N-not that I'm not grateful for everything that my family has done for me over the years! It's just-"

"Yeah." Fred reaches over and squeezes his hand lovingly. "I get it, and so do they. We want you to have your freedom just as much as you do."

"I honestly have no idea what I'm going to do when I have legs," Tadashi admits-they were both by silent agreement acknowledging that it was now just a matter of "when", not "if" the merman finally completed the transformation into human. "I feel like I'm going to be overwhelmed with all of the possibilities!"

"Well, I know the first thing I'm going to do," Fred declares. "I'm going to kiss you again, and then I am going to finally take you out on a proper date. Then the next day we are going to fill out those application forms for SFIT and you are going get into that college and things are going to be amazing!"

"Our happily ever after," Tadashi whispers with a slight smile.

"Better than a 'happily ever after'," Fred answers firmly. "Because our story isn't going to be ending-it's just going to be beginning."

Tadashi grins over at him, intertwining his fingers with the fanboy's before his expression goes slightly serious and he says softly, "Fred?"

"Y-yeah?" Fred answers, feeling his heart rate speeding up slightly for some reason.

"I… We haven't been together that long," Tadashi answers in a quiet but impassioned voice, "but there's something I need to tell you. I-I lo-"

Whatever he'd been about to say was cut short by a sudden blast of music, causing both of them to be so startled that they accidentally slipped under, coming up spluttering and laughing. The mood was broken, but neither of them minded too much, whatever Tadashi had been about to say quickly forgotten.

"Country?" Fred asks with a mixture of confusions and amusement, looking over to where Aunt Cass had turned on a radio to play music as she and Hiro continued to clean

"My aunt went to college down south," Tadashi explains with a slight smile. "She actually planned to live there until the accident with my parents, and as the old phrase goes, you can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl!"

"Nice," Fred chuckles, shaking his head slightly.

"Yeah, Hiro kind of tolerates it, and I'm kind of in the middle on it," Tadashi replies. "There are some songs that are definitely better than oth-Oh my gosh!" His eyes light up as a familiar tune comes on.

"I'll take it you know this one?" Fred says, noting the change in his demeanor.

"Totally!" Tadashi agrees eagerly. "It's one of my favorites!"

Fred listens for a moment, getting the beat before turning to his boyfriend and asking, "Would you like to dance?"

"D-dance?" Tadashi flushes slightly. "I-I don't really know how… No one really makes up dance steps for people with fish tails…"

"Just follow my lead," Fred answers, gently taking Tadashi's hands and moving them to the proper positions before beginning to sway him back and forth as the song begins.

_She was sittin' all alone over on the tailgate_

_Tan legs swinging' by a Georgia plate._

_I was lookin' for her boyfriend_

_Thinkin' no way she ain't got one._

Tadashi seems to grow more comfortable, resting his head on Fred's shoulder and letting out a contented sigh.

_Soon as I sat down I was fallin' in love,_

_Tryin' to pour a little sugar in her dixie cup._

_Talkin' over the speakers in the back of that truck,_

_she jumped up and cut me off._

Fred's ears picked up the soft sound of Tadashi humming along, and he couldn't help but notice how happy he looked doing it.

"You know, you have a beautiful voice, but I never hear you sing," he says softly to his boyfriend.

"O-oh…" Tadashi blushes at that. "I… I mean, I love to do it, but it's not safe…"

"Not safe?" Fred asks gently.

"Not safe for other people to hear it, at least not unless I'm underwater," Tadashi answers. "Y'know… the whole having sirens for ancestors thing? It kind of sucks…"

"Well, the only danger there is because the sirens were trying to drown sailors, right?'

"Right…"

"And I get the feeling that you have no intention of trying to drown me, right?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"Then if it makes you happy and you want to do it, I would love to get to hear you sing."

"I… I still don't know," Tadashi mumbles. "W-what if something goes wrong?"

"I trust you," Fred whispers back. "C'mon-please?"

"A-all right," Tadashi finally concedes. "But if I think anything bad is happening, I'm stopping!"

"I wouldn't expect it to be any other way," Fred agrees.

Tadashi seems to be taking a deep breath, and then as the chorus begins again, he starts singing softly, "She was like, 'Oh my God, this is my song! We've been listenin' to the radio all night long. I can't believe that it came back on, but here it is!' She was like, 'Come here here boy, I wanna dance.' 'Fore I said a word, she was takin' my hand, spinnin' me around 'til it faded out and she gave me a kiss."

Like the man in the song, Fred's entire world melted away as Tadashi's gentle voice filled his ears. Right then, right there, all that mattered was the beautiful man in his arms and just how much in love with him he was. Tadashi's gorgeous brown eyes were sparkling in the moonlight and he knew they were sparkling just for him.

"That… was amazing," Fred whispers when the song ends and Tadashi grins shyly up at him.

"Yeah?" Tadashi asks, looking nervous but pleased.

"Totally," Fred breathes. "Promise me you'll do that again sometime!"

"Promise," Tadashi answers, pecking him lovingly on the lips. But Fred wasn't going to let it go at that. He wraps his arms around the merman and pulls him into a long, passionate kiss.

"We're getting good at that," Tadashi teases when they finally break apart.

"Yes we are," Fred agrees with a grin, resting his forehead against the merman's.

"Want to go again?"

"Oh, definitely!"

It was the perfect ending to the perfect day. Even as Fred says goodbye late that night, heading home, he can still hear Tadashi's beautiful voice in his head and the fire of their kiss on his lips. It was enough to make him want to skip all the way home, which he did. It was amazing being in love, and even more amazing being in love with someone as amazing as Tadashi. He could only hope that he'd find the moment soon to tell him just how he felt about him. And as he lies in bed later that night, he realizes that maybe, just maybe, the tour would be the perfect time to do it.


	15. Chapter 15

"I can't believe this is actually happening!" Tadashi cries eagerly four days later. "This-this is so incredible!"

"Yes, yes, it's incredible," Hiro sighs. "But if you don't stop squirming, we are never getting this shirt on you and you're not going anywhere!"

"Sorry," Tadashi apologizes, forcing himself to sit still in the wheelchair so his brother can finally pull the shirt over his head.

"How does it feel?" Fred asks anxiously as the teen helps the older boy get dressed. "I had to guess your size, so I might have gotten it wrong…"

"It feels… weird," Tadashi admits after Hiro finishes getting it into place. "Not that there's anything wrong with it!" he hurries to reassure the other man. "It's just… I haven't worn clothes in… well, ever." He chuckles wryly. "I mean, I don't exactly need them…"

"Understandable," Fred agrees, grinning slightly at that before adding, "Still, you look great!"

"Can I pass as human?" Tadashi asks, looking down at himself. His tail was already covered in the moisturizer, which he and Hiro had tested multiple times over the past few days, keeping him out of the water for longer and longer periods to make sure that it would hold out over the course of the day. It seemed to be working fine, but today would be the real test. If the worst came to the worst, the guys had already researched where the university pool was so that they could rush Tadashi there. There was the fear that maybe it would be in use, in which case they'd be in danger of Tadashi's secret being discovered, but that was a chance they had to take. Over the device, Tadashi had a plain brown lap blanket which neatly covered it, and in the red SFIT t-shirt, he could have passed for any other college student hopeful.

"You look perfect," Fred reassures him before adding, "Well, almost!" He grabs the hat that was waiting patiently to be used nearby, carefully settling it on Tadashi's head. "There-now you're perfect!" he declares.

Tadashi beams before looking eagerly towards the door. "So, can we go?" he asks, practically bouncing in his chair.

"I think so!" Fred agrees. "Hiro?"

"Yep," the other boy agrees after doing one last check on the moisturizer. "We're good!"

"And so it begins!" Fred declares as he begins pushing Tadashi towards the door.

Aunt Cass meets them in the foyer. "All right, I have to take a picture before you guys head out!" she says, holding up her camera and looking vaguely emotional but holding it in well if she was. The three guys pose together for a nice one, all smiles and nice formal looks, but as soon as she snaps the first picture, it devolves into making as many ridiculous and silly poses as possible. Near the end Aunt Cass even manages to get one of Fred kissing a blushing Tadashi on the cheek, and the fanboy makes a mental note to get her to send a copy to him later.

"All right, you boys have fun!" Aunt Cass says, finally putting the camera up and tearing up a little as she comes over to hug all of them. "I wish I could go with you, but I couldn't get anyone to cover for me at the cafe… You will call me if anything… Well, if you need me?" she asks. Fred could see her slight apprehension, and he understood that she also knew what was at stake if Tadashi's secret was discovered.

"Trust me-no matter what, we will protect him," Fred tells her firmly, and he meant it.

"All right," she agrees, nodding and obviously doing her best to look confident so as to not ruin the happy moment for Tadashi. Still, as the guys start heading for the door, she pulls him into one more quick hug. "Last hug," she whispers.

"Last hug," Tadashi agrees, pecking her on the cheek. "I love you, Aunt Cass."

"Love you too, sweetie," Aunt Cass answers, squeezing him one last time before finally letting him go.

The trip to the university was fairly uneventful, if extremely quiet. Tadashi obviously had many questions about everything around him, but given that asking all of them would seem suspicious, he kept them all inside, instead just taking in this world that was so new to him with wide, eager eyes.

"You doing okay?" Fred whispers to him once they had safely boarded the streetcar via the handicap ramp and were on their way.

"Definitely!" Tadashi agrees, beaming up at him. "It… It's all so amazing! There's just so much to take in!"

"Well, if you feel overwhelmed at all, you just let us know and we'll find you someplace quiet to take a break, okay?" Fred says, feeling slightly concerned for him.

"I don't think that'll be a problem, but thank you," Tadashi answers, lightly squeezing his hand.

"Hey guys, I think we're here!" Hiro tells them eagerly as the driver announces the next stop, reaching up to press the button to tell him that they wanted to get off.

The cab slows to a stop at the next corner and, with the help of the driver, who lowered the ramp for them, they disembark. Following the directions on Hiro's phone, they make their way along the semi-crowded sidewalk. It seemed that they weren't the only ones who were heading for SFIT as several other kids who looked about Tadashi and Fred's age along with parents all headed in the same direction as they were. This actually worked well for them-being in a group meant they were able to blend in easier, plus less chance of getting lost.

Fred was just about to ask the merman if he was still doing alright with so many people around them when a perky blond girl next to them suddenly turns and smiles at them.

"Are you guys here for the tour too?" she asks eagerly.

"Y-yeah, yeah we are," Fred agrees, not really having expected anyone to start talking to them but deciding that it was rude not to reply.

"I'm Aiko," she tells them, flashing another dazzling smile. "I'm here for Chemistry! What about you guys?"

"I'm Tadashi," Tadashi answers, smiling back, apparently just as eager to finally be talking to his first human outside of his family, his tutor, and Fred. "I'm checking out the robotics program."

"Hiro…" Hiro mumbles, obviously not wanting to really get involved. "And same…"

"I'm Fred," Fred says, placing one hand slightly possessively on the merman's shoulder. "Tadashi's boyfriend." Hey, maybe it wasn't nice to make assumptions, but this Aiko girl was pretty and he wasn't taking any chances.

"Aw!" Aiko instantly beams at that. "That's so sweet! Are you coming to SFIT too?"

"No, SF State, but I live just up the street from him and I will definitely be coming to visit him regularly when he starts coming here," Fred answers firmly. All right, so maybe she wasn't a threat, but he still wanted to make it very clear that he was holding his ground even if he and Tadashi weren't going to the same college.

"Ooh, that's great, maybe we can all hang out together!" Aiko chirps happily. "Wouldn't that be so much fun?"

"Definitely," Tadashi agrees before gently squeezing Fred's hand, making the fanboy relax slightly.

"I've even heard this campus has a great gay/straight alliance and I'm definitely checking it out-maybe you guys could join with me!" Aiko adds cheerfully.

"You're an ally?" Fred asks, not daring to hope that maybe she'd say otherwise.

"Pansexual!" Aiko answers with a smile before adding in a low, playful voice, "But I'm definitely on the pink side of the spectrum! Do you see that cute girl near the front?" She gestures discretely to a short girl dressed in leather with spiky black hair, highlighted with purple, who appeared to be chewing on gum despite the early hour.

"You should go talk to her!" Tadashi says, obviously eager to be witnessing his first potential real life romance outside of his and Fred's.

"Oh, trust me, I'll definitely be making my way around to her!" Aiko answers, winking at him before saying, "So, aside from that, I'm really, really hoping to get into the main lab in Ito Ishioka! I've heard it's the best in the country, but it's only for those students who do really, really well at the Expo and impress all of the judges!"

She continues to chatter on as they make their way to the university, and Fed find himself smiling and joining in the conversation with her and Tadashi. Now that he knew she wasn't a potential threat, she seemed like she'd make a really cool friend, and Heaven knew he could use some of those! Hiro wasn't particularly talkative, but he was at least smiling slightly so Fred knew that he wasn't feeling left out.

Soon they reach the actual campus, and Tadashi lets out a quiet gasp of awe.

"I know, pretty incredible, right?" Aiko cries eagerly. "I remember my first tour coming here, I'd never seen anything like it!"

"You have no idea," Tadashi answers under his breath, and Fred can't help but grin at the adorably wonderstruck look on his face. This was definitely where he was meant to be, and he couldn't help but be grateful that he was here to be a part of it.

The small clutch of students and parents soon gather outside of one of the campus' main buildings, joining the others who were already there. Tadashi, Hiro, and Fred were happy enough to just observe the sights of the early morning campus, but Aiko was looking around eagerly, as if searching for something, her eyes lighting up when she apparently spotted whatever it was.

"DAVID!" she calls excitedly, waving to someone. "David, over here!"

A tall, broad shouldered man with chocolate colored skin and long, meticulously kept dreads winces slightly as everyone turns to look at him. Looking embarrassed, he makes his way over to the little group, waving slightly.

"Hey!" Aiko chirps, wrapping him into a warm hug as soon as he reaches them. "I thought that was you!"

"Y-yeah, it's me," the man who was apparently named David answers, rubbing the back of his neck and seeming slightly uncomfortable.

"You remember me, right? We had AP chemistry together!" Aiko continues as she lets him go, completely unperturbed. "I was your lab partner!"

"Oh yeah, I remember," David agrees, not looking completely enthused by the memory before adding under his breath, "I remember a lot of explosions…"

Either not hearing him or choosing to ignore that last comment, Aiko turns cheerfully back to the others and says, "Guys, this is David! David, this is Tadashi, Hiro, and Fred!"

"Hey." Wasabi greets them with a nod that was friendly enough before looking to Honey Lemon and asking, "Friends of yours?"

"Well, I've known them for about fifteen minutes, so yeah, I'd say we've known each other long enough to be counted as friends!" Honey Lemon chirps.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" David chuckles, looking slightly more at ease as he shakes his head.

"What major are you?" Tadashi asks curiously.

"Applied physics," David answers giving him a warm smile. "You?"

"Me and my brother are both here for robotics engineering," Tadashi replies, gesturing to himself and Hiro.

"Whoa, wait, you're here to become a student too?" Wasabi cries, looking at Hiro in disbelief.

"I'm something of a prodigy," Hiro replies shrugging slightly like it really wasn't that big of a deal but seeming proud of himself nonetheless.

"And you're _how_ old?" Wasabi presses, still obviously trying to wrap his mind around it.

"Thirteen!" Tadashi says, looking proudly at his younger sibling.

"Dang…" Wasabi let's out a low whistle. "That's seriously impressive, little man!"

"Thanks-I think," Hiro says, obviously not liking being referred to as "little man" but deciding to enjoy the compliment nonetheless.

"All right, everyone!" a voice suddenly calls, and they all turn to see a young woman with light brown hair, dressed in a white sweater and light blue dress that matched her eyes standing on the steps in front of them. "Hello, and welcome to SFIT!" she greets them all warmly. "My name is Abigail Callaghan, and I'll be leading the tour today! I hope you all got plenty of rest last night, because we're going to do a lot of walking today!"

"Well, that won't be a problem for me," Tadashi whispers to Fred with a wry smile as the others laugh before adding, "But seriously, you think you're going to be okay pushing me around all over the place today?"

"Trust me, I'll be fine," Fred reassures him.

"And he can always trade off with me if he gets tired!" Hiro adds.

"Exactly! Trust me, we've got you covered," Fred says firmly.

Abigail starts calling off roll to see if everyone who had signed up for the tour had arrived and, after making sure that they were all present she begins going off on a speech about the history and cultural significance of the university, how it had been a collaborative effort built by the survivors of the great earthquake in the early 1900's that had destroyed the original city, San Francisco, and the migrant workers who had come to help restore the place to it's former glory, bringing to the city much of their own cultural background which led to the changing of the city's name to San Fransokyo. Fred had honestly heard the spiel more times than he could count at various events his dad had dragged him to over the years (heck, his dad might have even written the speech!) but Tadashi seemed rapt with attention, and so he decides to stick with it and just tune out the words the best he can, fighting the temptation to pull out his phone and start playing a game.

Fortunately the speech is mercifully short and as soon as it's done, the actual tour begins. For Fred, who'd seen the campus more times than he could count, it was somewhat monotonous, seeing the dorms, the dining hall, various classrooms. But Tadashi was so eager, so excited about every little detail that it actually made the tour fun for him too. David and Aiko were enthusiastic as well, although not quite as much as Tadashi. Still, the elder Hamada's eagerness seemed to be catching and even Hiro, the most reserved of the quickly forming group, managed to stay smiling for most of the time.

"All right everyone," Abigail says a couple of hours later as she leads the group into a nice grassy space which held a fountain in the center and was surrounded by small shops and stalls, "welcome to the quad! This is where students come to hang out, relax, and also come for food when they just need a quick bite to eat or don't feel like going to the cafeteria. We're going to take a thirty minute break so you can all grab some lunch before meeting back up here for the second half of the tour, which I'm sure that you're all looking forward to-the Ito Ishioka building!"

Tadashi lets out a happy cheer, along with many of the other tour members.

"I'll take it you're excited?" Fred lightly teases the merman.

"It's the coolest building on campus and where most of the amazing robotics discoveries that come out of this university are made! Of course I'm excited!" Tadashi laughs.

"Everyone wants to get chosen to work in the main lab," Aiko adds. "It's like the biggest honor a student can get, especially if you're an incoming freshman!"

"A professor has to really like your work when you present at the Expo in order for you to get chosen, so the competition is going to be crazy!" David sighs.

"What exactly is this 'Expo'?" Fred asks, feeling slightly out of his depth, like the others were speaking a foreign language. He vaguely remembered his dad mentioning something about an expo once, but he hadn't really been paying attention at the time.

"What's the Expo?" Hiro looks at him incredulously. "That's how you get admitted to the university-or at least how you get in if you want to actually go anywhere while you're here! All of the incoming students present some sort of project and try to impress the judges and professors in hopes that someone will take an interest in them and choose them for their lab! Lots of tech companies come to look for prospective future employees, but usually they just check out the grad students who are presenting, so there's not much of a chance that one of us would get scooped by Krei Tech or something. It's still totally awesome, though!"

"Wow-that does sound pretty cool," Fred answers. Given Hiro had just given probably the longest speech he'd heard him given in a very long time, if ever, he knew that this must be pretty important.

"Do you guys already know what you're planning to submit?" Tadashi asks, looking at the other two.  
"Hey, this is a competition, remember-we can't exactly go around giving away all of our secrets!" David answers, his tone playful but with a serious undertone.

"We're all going for different majors, though," Tadashi points out. "It's not like we're going to be competing with each other!"

"True," David agrees after considering that.

"How about we share our ideas over lunch?" Aiko suggests brightly. "I'll bet maybe we can give each other ideas!"

"That sounds great!" Tadashi agrees, and Fred knew he was eager to be able to talk science with others who knew as much about it as he did. The fanboy couldn't help but feel a little inadequate given he knew nothing about the subject, but the merman looked so happy that he couldn't help but smile and shove aside those insecurities. The important thing was that Tadashi was happy, and he needed to remember that they still had a lot going for their relationship even if he wasn't a genius like the rest of them.

"Let's all grab our lunches and then meet back up under that tree in a few minutes, okay?" Aiko suggests.

No one seemed opposed to the idea, and the little group broke go get their food. Fred started Tadashi towards the tree that had been designated as their meeting spot-Aunt Cass had already packed their lunches and so there was no need to go to one of the food stalls (albeit the fanboy made a mental note to check them out later as potential future date ideas once Tadashi started at SFIT.)

"So, what exactly did your aunt make us?" Fred asks curiously as Hiro sets down the bag holding their lunches.

"Bentos!" Tadashi cries, beaming as he sees the individually wrapped boxes. "Oh my gosh-it must have taken forever for her to make all of these…"

"I guess she was trying to be here in spirit even if she couldn't be here in person," Hiro says with a slight smile as he begins passing the lunches around along with sets of chopsticks.

Fred honestly wasn't quite sure what was in the lunch when he lifted the lid off, but it looked amazing and, once he tried a piece of what looked potentially like sushi, he found that it tasted just as good, if not better.

"Wow, bentos, huh?"

The three look up to see David heading their way, holding a small container that appeared to be full of noodles. "Wish I'd thought to pack a lunch," the man says as he sits down next to them. "I usually don't like to buy food if I don't know where it's been, but I accidentally slept in past my alarm and I didn't have time." He unwraps a set of disposable chopsticks and eyes his noodles suspiciously before sighing in defeat and beginning to eat, apparently deciding that hunger was a bigger issue than the potential for germs.

Not terribly germophobic himself (he'd been known to wear the same clothes for four days straight or skip taking showers for a week-hey, it helped conserve water!) and honestly skeptical of anyone who spent too much time worrying about what little microbes or random diseases _might_ be in there foods, Fred rolls his eyes slightly at this behavior before grinning as he wonders what the man would think if he knew that Tadahsi liked to eat raw fish on a regular basis.

"Hey guys!" Aiko's cheerful voice breaks into his thoughts as the cheery blonde walks towards them, waving enthusiastically. By her side was the spiky-haired girl from earlier. "Hope you don't mind if one more joins us!"

"Not at all!" Tadashi answers, grinning at Aiko's apparent success.

"Everyone, this is Ethel Tomago," Aiko introduces her. "Ethel, this is David, Tadashi, Hiro, and Fred."

"Hey." Ethel gives them all a curt nod. Fred wasn't sure if she was annoyed from having been potentially having been shanghaied into this or if that was just her usual demeanor, but he gives her a friendly wave nonetheless.

"So, what major are you?" Tadashi asks, trying to draw the new girl out.

"Industrial design and mechanical engineering," Ethel grunts, pulling the lid off of her salad and plopping down next to David. Fred tries not to stare-ew, was that kale?! He knew that it was supposed to be super healthy for you, but he couldn't even stand it in the health drinks his mom loved. He couldn't imagine eating it raw!

"That's great!" Tadashi beams at Ethel. "Me and my brother are going for robotics engineering!"

"Huh." Ethel lets out a small huff by way of reply but despite her seeming indifference she didn't appear to be trying to be unfriendly or stand-offish.

 _Maybe she just didn't like to talk much_ , Fred thinks. Well, he could respect that. He wasn't always the most talkative when he was around a bunch of people that he didn't know either.

"So," Aiko chirps, taking the spot next to Ethel who didn't complain or choose to move away, just continuing on with eating her salad, "we were talking about ideas for the Expo! Do you have anything planned?"

"Electro mag suspension," Ethel mumbles through a mouthful of kale.

"Really?" Aiko beams. "That's great! Any idea what you want to do with it?"

"Why all the questions?" Ethel asks suspiciously, shooting her a look.

"Sorry!" Aiko titters. "Just curious! Don't worry, I'm a chemistry major, I'm not trying to steal any of your ideas!"

Ethel lets out a noncommittal grunt before saying, "I'm not giving out details, but I'm working on something with transportation."

"For transportation?" Hiro asks, looking curious.

"The less resistance, the faster you can move," Ethel answers, shrugging slightly.

"That's awesome!" Tadashi grins. "I'm thinking of doing something involving robotics and water, so I know how important lack of resistance is if you want something to move fast!"

"Ooh, really?" Aiko asks. "What kind of robot are you making?"

"Hey, I can't give away everything!" Tadashi teases.

"But you were the one who wanted to talk about projects!" David points out.

"Yeah, and I talked about it, but I have to leave you guys something to be surprised about!" Tadashi banters back playfully.

The little group continues on like this for a while, all of them hinting at what their projects were like but not giving away the really important details, almost turning it into a game of sorts. Fred really couldn't understand most of what was being said, but just seeing Tadashi so happy was enough to make being so confused all worth it.

"Aw man!" Davidi groans suddenly, interrupting a debate between Ethel and Hiro about the best places to order parts from. Everyone turns to see him looking down at his shirt with a frustrated look on his face. "I spilled wasabi on my shirt," he explains when he sees everyone looking at him. "And I didn't bring a spare today, so I'm going to have to walk around with this on me for the rest of the tour…"

"You can barely see it," Ethel says, rolling her eyes. "Woman up and get over it already."

Fred tries not to laugh at the flabbergasted look on the other man's face before an idea hits him. "Oh my gosh, Wasabi!" he cries eagerly. "That could totally be his nickname!"

"What?" Wasabi cries. "N-no way! I just spilled some sauce on my shirt, that doesn't even make sense!"

"I think it's cute!" Aiko declares.

"Works for me," Ethel agrees with a slight shrug.

"All in favor?" Fred asks, raising his hand. The others quickly follow suit, and he declares happily, "It's unanimous!"

"This can't be happening…" David/Wasabi groans, burying his head in his hands.

Fred glances around at the others. Huh, if they were on the topic of nicknames…

"Aiko, what are you drinking?" he asks, looking at the cup in her hand.

"Oh, honey lemon boba tea," the girl answers, glancing down at her drink.

"Perfect!" Fred grins. "Your nickname can be Honey Lemon, 'cause it's sweet like you!"

"AW!" Aiko/Honey Lemon beams. "I love it!"

"Don't even think of trying to name me after a salad or I will pull out your spleen," Ethel growls when she seest the fanboy looking her way.

"Nope!" Fred answers, quickly nixing that idea. "I think… GoGo, 'cause you said you liked going fast!"

"Huh…" Ethel considers this. "Not bad," she admits.

"What about those guys?" Wasabi complains, pointing to the two Hamada brothers.

"Eh, you can't really top Hiro and Tadashi," Fred answers, shrugging slightly.

"Not fair…" Wasabi grumbles even as the others laugh.

"Um, Fred?" Tadashi says a little while later, gently touching his boyfriend's shoulder. "How much time do we have left until lunch is over?"

"About ten minutes," Honey Lemon answers before Fred even has a chance to reply.

"Okay-uh, Fred, think you can take me to the bathroom before we have to leave?" Tadashi asks.

"Oh, of course!" Fred answers, although internally he was slightly worried-dangit, why hadn't he thought of this possibility? He honestly had no idea how all of that stuff worked for Tadashi and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know.

"I'll come with," Hiro offers, much to Fred's great relief.

"Sorry about that," Tadashi apologizes as they start heading for the bathroom.

"What are you apologizing for?" Hiro asks. "You can't help it if you need to go!"

"No, actually I don't," Tadashi admits with an embarrassed look. "It's just… as well as your moisturizer is working, my tail is cramping up like crazy and I need a chance to stretch it in private before we start back up and this is the best idea I could come up with."

"Oh, gotcha!" Fred can't help but sigh internally with relief at that before saying, "Well, don't worry, we'll definitely take care of that!"

"It looks like we're in luck too!" Hiro says, grinning as the approach the small bathroom facility. "This place actually has an individual handicapped bathroom so you'll have plenty of room!"

Hiro holds the door open as Fred pushes Tadashi in, and then closes it quickly behind them before hurrying to help take the moisturizer off of him.

"Oh my gosh, that feels much better," Tadashi sighs with relief as he gently flexes his tail.

"I'm sorry, nii-chan-if you'd told me it was hurting you," Hiro says, looking guilty.

"No, no, it wasn't hurting me!" Tadashi hurries to reassure him. "I was just getting stiff under there!" He flashes his brother a warm smile. "Seriously, your device is amazing! I haven't felt dehydrated at all!"

"Well, that's good!" Hiro beams at the praise.

"Do you guys think you could help me a little?" Tadashi asks sheepishly as his tail flops over the edge of the chair. "Sorry, there's only so much stretching I can do on my own when I'm not in the water…"

"Oh, of course!" Fred agrees, hurrying over. He stops short, though, blushing slightly as he realizes that Tadashi was actually asking him to touch his tail. Sure they'd accidentally brushed against each other before, but this was pretty different, especially considering he really didn't know how things worked with mers and what was considered, well… sensitive.

Hiro, seeing his panicked expression, rolls his eyes and says, "I'll take the top, you take the end." before beginning to massage the upper part of his brother's tail.

Fred tries not to blush too much at the fact that Hiro had guessed what had him freaked out so much before carefully beginning to massage the lower half of the merman's tail. It felt a little weird at first but not altogether unpleasant and, seeing that Tadashi wasn't reacting in any way that told him he was doing anything that was setting him off, he finally allows himself to relax and just concentrate on helping his boyfriend unstiffen before the tour began again.

With Tadashi's eyes closed and the other two's backs to the entrance, they didn't realize that the handle was turning and, given they'd forgotten to lock it, the door was opening until it was too late. In fact, they didn't even realize that someone was standing there until they heard a startled gasp and they all whirled around to see-

"W-Wasabi?" Tadashi cries, his eyes going wide with panic.

"W-what…. What the hell is going on here?" Wasabi whispers before crying, "Y-you're a fish?!"


	16. Chapter 16

"Wasabi, I can explain-" Tadashi starts to say, but Hiro cuts in angrily.

"What the hell are you doing in here?!" he hisses.

"What do you think I was doing, I was looking for the bathroom, and the door wasn't locked!" Wasabi answers, just barely managing to tear his eyes off of Tadashi to look at the younger boy.

"The _handicap_ bathroom?!" Hiro demands.

"They're usually cleaner," Wasabi whines, seeming slightly terrified by the rage that was practically boiling off of the teen.

"What the hell is all the shouting about?" someone asks.

Things were going from bad to worse. Apparently having heard the argument, Honey Lemon and GoGo had come to investigate, meaning that there were now three stunned college students standing in the doorway. GoGo was so shocked that the gum had actually fallen out of her mouth and onto the floor, completely unnoticed.

"T-Tadashi, what-?" Honey Lemon starts to stammer.

That's when Hiro decided to take matters into his own hands-literally. He yanks first Wasabi and then the two girls into the bathroom, all too surprised to be able to argue, and then slams the door shut, locking it and standing guard. "No one is getting out of here until we know you're not going to go spilling this to everyone," he growls.

Wasabi lets out a tiny whimper, looking like he thought he'd just found himself in the middle of a horror movie and even the usually unflappable GoGo seeming slightly nervous, her eyes darting around as if searching for another exit.

"Oh my gosh, Hiro…" Tadashi groans, facepalming. This was _so_ not going well.

"Seriously, little dude, calm down, you're freaking them out and only making things worse," Fred adds, trying to be the voice of calm and reason (huh, usually he was the source of chaos during things like this-it was weird playing the opposite role.) "Let's just go back to the beginning and start things over, okay?"

"Can we start by explaining why he's a fish?" Wasabi asks, pointing to Tadashi and still looking extremely freaked out.

"All right, first of all, he is not a fish," Fred explains, doing his best to keep his voice level. "He is a merman."

"A… a merman?" Wasabi stutters.

"Yes, read my lips: Mer. Man. Got it?" Fred says, over enunciating and rolling his eyes.

"I-I think so," Wasabi whimpers quietly.

"Are-are you really?" Honey Lemon asks timidly, directing her question towards Tadashi.

"Yep," Tadashi replies, smiling wryly as he flicks the end of his tail. "Born and raised. Well, as much as I could be considering most of my family is human."

"How exactly does that work?" GoGo asks, her eyes flitting between him and Hiro, not seeming as tense as before, more curious than anything.

"Mer ancestor or a family curse somewhere back along the line, and some of us got the gene stronger than other," Tadashi answers. "You can see I got quite a lot of it."

"I guess that explains why you're on land instead of out in the ocean somewhere," GoGo mutters thoughtfully.

"Yeah-spent pretty much my entire life living in a pool in my family's house until I met Fred and he started helping me figure out ways to actually get out on land," Tadashi replies, smiling over at his boyfriend. Seeing the expression on Hiro's face, he quickly adds, "With a lot of help from my genius brother, of course!" He gestures to the moisturizer that was still leaning up against the wall. "That's what allowed me to be able to come on the tour today-hides my tail and keeps me from drying out."

"So… You're, like, an actual mer!" Honey Lemon says, the truth seeming to finally dawn on her as a grin crosses her face. "Oh my gosh… Oh my gosh! This… This is amazing! I've been obsessed with mermaids since I was a little girl, and now I'm finding out that they're actually real?! This is the best! day! EVER!" She squeals happily, clapping her hands together before hurrying over to Tadashi, "Can I?" she asks shyly, her hand hovering about a foot over Tadashi's tail.

"Sure," Tadashi agrees, smiling slightly.

"Eee!" Honey Lemon squeaks before gently running her fingertips over his scales, letting out a happy giggle. "This is incredible!" she cries.

"Hey," Fred says, his tone playful but still possessive as he wraps his arms around his boyfriend. "Remember-mine!"

"Oh, don't worry, you're safe in that department," Honey Lemon answers with a reassuring smile, subtly nodding her head towards GoGo.

"So, should I ask what the heck you're doing on a college tour?" GoGo asks, also coming over to join them.

"Like I said earlier," Tadashi replies with a slight shrug, "I love robotics. It's always been my dream to come here, and at least until I'm human, at the very least getting to see the campus is something even if I can't officially go here yet. This is my first time ever actually leaving my own home," he admits.

"Wait a minute, back up-until you're human? How is that going to happen?" GoGo asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…" Tadashi flushes slightly, glancing shyly over at Fred. "I mean, there is the route Ariel took…"

"OH MY GOSH!" Honey Lemon squeals eagerly. "True love's kiss! That is adorable, you guys!"

"True love's kiss?" GoGo looks skeptical. "You do realize you're talking, like, magic, right? That's scientifically impossible!"

"And so is being a mer, and yet here I am," Tadashi points out with a slight smile.

"All right, true enough," GoGo concedes after mulling that over for a minute.

"So, the thing is," Hiro says darkly from where he was standing guard at the door, finally rejoining the conversation, "before we can let you go- _if_ we can let you go-we need to know that you can be trusted. I've spent far too long protecting my bro to let anyone ruin it by running to tell the media and getting him taken away and locked in a zoo or a lab."

"We just don't want him getting hurt," Fred quickly puts in, trying to lighten Hiro's words. "I mean, you can understand how horrible it would be if the wrong people found out!"

"Oh, of course!" Honey Lemon agrees with a firm nod. "There's no way we would ever want you to get taken away!" she adds, directing her words towards Tadashi as well.

"He's a person!" GoGo adds, frowning fiercely. "Just because he has a tail, that doesn't mean anyone has the right to experiment on him or put him on display like some circus side show! That is completely fucked up, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise!"

"R-really?" Tadashi asks, his eyes shining with gratitude.

"Really." GoGo flashes him a smile-possibly the first one they'd seen her give all day.

"Same here, Dashi," Honey Lemon agrees, lightly squeezing his hand. "You're amazing, and you're our friend-we'd never let anyone hurt you!"

"T-thank you…" Tadashi gives both girls a grateful smile, apparently trying not to lose it but not fully managing.

Fred can't help but smile slightly at the scene. It was beautiful, honestly, and he couldn't help but feel a bit emotional knowing that Tadashi finally had some friends who were there to help him, even if he couldn't be there with him every second of the day.

Catching Fred's look, Honey Lemon reaches over and pulls him into what had turned into something of a group hug (much to GoGo's apparent discomfort.) "And you're our friend too, Freddy," she adds warmly. "We're all in this together now!"

"What is this, High School Musical?" GoGo huffs, even though she was obviously fighting another smile and making the others laugh.

"What about him?" Hiro asks, pointing over to Wasabi, who had been silent throughout the exchange.

"'Sabi?" Tadashi says softly as they all turn to look at him. "C'mon, please talk to me." When he doesn't get an immediate response, he adds, "At least please tell me that you're still breathing."

"S-sorry," Wasabi apologizes, finally coming out of his apparent daze, shaking his head. "Just… This is a lot to process…"

"I probably just completely skewed your view of reality, huh?" Tadashi says with a wry smile.

"Little bit," Wasabi admits with an embarrassed laugh before finally tentatively coming closer. "I just… Wow. So, you're actually a mer?"

"Yep," Tadashi agrees, smiling up at him and lightly flapping his tail.

"Well… I guess there are worse things you could be," Wasabi says, giving him a wryly smile. "I mean, you're not going around sucking people's blood or biting them, right?"

"Exactly!" Tadashi chuckles, and Fred makes a mental note not to mention the whole siren thing to the other man.

"So… Are we cool?" Tadashi asks, flashing Wasabi a hopeful look.

"Yeah," Wasabi agrees, giving him an easy smile. "We're cool."

Tadashi grins and puts out his hand for a fistbump, which Wasabi returns.

"Can't believe I just fistbumped a merman," the older man chuckles before adding more seriously, "Don't worry, you can trust me not to say anything. And if anyone ever tries to give you any trouble, I've got your back, man."

"Thank you," Tadashi says, giving him an extremely grateful look before looking over at the door where Hiro still stood. He didn't look complete at his ease yet, but he nods his approval.

"Just remember, if anything happens to my brother and it has anything to do with any of you, I will find out where you live and you will regret it," he says fiercely. Apparently satisfied by the slightly uneasy looks on their faces, he finally steps away from the door.

"All right, let's get the moisturizer back on you so we can get you back to the tour," he says, coming over to Tadashi.

Honey Lemon frowns slightly and pulls out her phone, only to let out a startled cry of, "! _POR DIOS!"_

"What's wrong?" Fred asks, frowning in concern.

"The tour! It's supposed to start back up in two minutes!" she answers.

There was a massive scrambling as everyone tried to help get Tadashi settled back in the wheelchair, so much time being wasted in the confusion that Hiro had to shout for everyone to stand back so that he could get it done right.

When the moisturizer and lap blanket were finally back in place, Fred throws the door open and they all race back to the meeting place.

"Well," Abigail says as they finally reach the group. "You're certainly cutting it close. I thought we were going to have to leave you."

"Sorry, ma'am," Tadashi apologizes, the only one who actually had the breath to speak. "I had an… accident of sorts, and all of them were kind enough to stay with me to help me and make sure that I was okay!"

"I see." Abigail's expression softens slightly at that. "That was very kind of them. You're lucky to have found some good friends-that's really important in college, they'll help you through a lot of the rough times."

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees, smiling around at the others. "I know."

"All right then-now that we're all here, shall we get going?" Abigail says, turning to address the rest of the group.

A general cry of ecstatic "YES!"s comes from the assembled.

"Okay!" Abigail laughs. "I get the hint! Follow me, everyone!"

There's a definite atmosphere of eagerness among the little group as they continue across the campus, but Fred can't help but notice that something in the dynamics had definitely changed. It takes him a few minutes to realize that it had to do with Tadashi-or, more specifically, with how everyone was treating Tadashi. Whether consciously or unconsciously, everyone had moved into a protective little ring around the wheelchair. Sure they were all talking and laughing like before, but just in the way Wasabi had moved to the front of the group to make sure that the path stayed clear, GoGo and Honey Lemon each taking a side of the chair as if to make sure that no one got too close for the merman's comfort, he could see that it had happened. It was as if finding out about the elder Hamada's secret had, without needing for anything to be said, solidified them into a group, with said group's purpose being protecting Tadashi. It was crazy that six almost complete strangers had come together so quickly, but maybe that's what sharing a secret did-and, beyond that, Fred could only hope, maybe friendship as well.

"Whoa," Tadashi gasps, bringing Fred out of his thoughts. "I-is that it?"

"It is!" Honey Lemon agrees eagerly, pointing to the gigantic building up ahead. "Isn't it great?"

"And it's even better on the inside, apparently," GoGo adds, nodding her head approvingly.

Fred had seen the Ito Ishioka building both inside and out a number of times over the years due to various function his dad was either hosting or attending, but even he couldn't help but be slightly awestruck every time he saw it.

"All right everyone, this is Ito Ishioka!" Abigail announces when they reach the bottom of the steps leading into the main building. "I know you're all excited to get inside, but since I know a couple of us can't take the stairs, we're going to be using the side entrance which has a ramp entrance. All right? Good. Let's get going!" She waves for everyone to follow her and, obediently, they all start heading up the sidewalk that ran parallel to the building. It takes a good five minutes to get where they're heading given the fact that the pathway was (foolishly, to Fred's mind) uphill due to the landscape. Seriously, for such a high tech building they could have accommodated better for students with special needs! Still, they manage to make it, and Fred can't help but breathe a sigh of relief as they reach the glass double doors.

"You doing okay?" Tadashi asks with concern, looking back at him as Hiro holds one of the doors open for them.

"Fine!" Fred answers, although the slight wheeze in his voice gave away his exhaustion.

"Maybe Hiro should take over for a little bit," Tadashi tells him.

"No, I've got this!" Fred says firmly, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"All right," Tadashi finally relents. "But if you ever need a break-"

"I've got it," Fred repeats. He had come this far, he was stubbornly determined to finish the rest of the trip. But just as he starts pushing the wheelchair down the hallway, one of the wheels suddenly stopped turning.

"What the heck?" he mutters, backing up a tiny bit and trying again, only for the same thing to happen.

"What's going on?" Hiro asks, his brow wrinkling in concern.

"One of the wheels is jammed," Fred answers, letting out a low groan of frustration. This could not be happening! He looks ahead to where the rest of the group-even the others, whom they had told to go on ahead of them since it would take them a little longer to get up the pathway- was disappearing down the hallway. No! Tadashi was going to miss the most important part of the tour, and it was going to be all his fault!

"Fred, seriously, calm down, we'll figure this out," Tadashi says, his tone soothing.

"But you're going to miss the tour!"

"Panicking isn't going to help anything."

"I don't see what just standing around is going to do-"

"Can I help you gentlemen?"

All three of the boys look up to see a middle-aged man with lightly greying hair standing in the hallway in front of them, apparently having come out of the interconnecting hallway.

"Well…" Fred debates lying and saying that they were fine, wanting to fix the problem himself, but obviously they weren't so he sighs and says, "Well, one of the wheels on the chair is stuck and I don't know what's causing it."

"Really?" The older man walks over, gesturing to the wheelchair. "Do you mind if I take a quick look?"

"Um, sure," Fred answers when neither of the brothers respond. As long as the moisturizer and blanket were firmly in place, it shouldn't be a problem, right?

"Let me see… Uh huh. Uh huh!" The older man kneels down to examine the wheel before smiling and pulling something out of one of the spokes. "Just as I thought-you must have picked up a bit of bark and it got stuck," he says, standing up and holding up a small wood chip. He gently gives the wheel an experimental turn with his hand. "That should do it!"

"Wow, thanks," Fred says, giving him a grateful smile. He wished that he could have thought of that, but hey, as long as the chair was fixed, that was the important thing, right? A part of his brain couldn't help but wonder why this man looked vaguely familiar, but he pushes the thought away, instead glancing down at his boyfriend who had been oddly silent through the whole exchange. "Tadashi, tell the nice man thank you," he says, gently nudging the mer's shoulder. When he didn't get a response, he tries again, "...Uh, Dashi? Yo, you still in there?" He wondered if maybe something bad had happened given the merman was staring straight ahead, his mouth open in apparent shock. Glancing over to the side, the fanboy saw that Hiro was mirroring practically the exact same expression. What the heck was going on?

"Y-you're R-Robert Callaghan," Tadashi finally stammers, looking straight at the man in front of them with something like complete and total awe in his voice.

 _Wait, do they know each other?_ Fred wonders, only for Hiro to at least partially explain Tadashi's reaction.

"T-the Catmull-Callaghan Spline? C-Callaghan's Laws of Robotics!" the teen breathes, sounding like someone who had just run into a real-life superhero.

"Yes, that's right," the man agrees, giving them a warm smile. "I'll take it you've heard of my work?"

"H-heard of it? You're our hero!" Tadashi cries enthusiastically. "We've been reading your book practically since we were kids! We never would have been able to build half of our inventions without all of your research!"

"Well, it's always nice to meet aspiring young inventors," the man, apparently Callaghan, answers with another smile. "I'll take it you're here with the campus tour?"

"Y-yes sir," Hiro agrees with a somewhat shaky voice.

"Please, Professor Callaghan is fine," Callaghan replies, waving aside to formality.

Hiro just nods in reply, apparently too nervous or excited to speak again.

On Fred's part, a bell finally went off. Professor Callaghan-he was one of the really high up professors here at the university, wasn't he? He'd probably seen him at various campus events (and possibly slept through a couple of his speeches…) Still, apparently he must be an even bigger deal than the fanboy had thought if the brothers were acting this excited about meeting him.

"I'll take it you three got separated from the group?" Callaghan when none of the boys speak for a full minute.

"Yeah," Fred agrees, wincing slightly at the reminder. "I sure hope we can find them again…"

"Not to worry." Callaghan gives them a warm smile. "I've lead enough of these tours myself to know how they usually run, so just follow me and I'm sure we'll be able to get you right back to them."

"Wow, really? That would be great!" Fred cries.

"Just follow me," Callaghan says, waving for them to join him as he starts off down the hallway.

At first Fred was worried that he was going to have to make all of the conversation with how silent both of the brothers were being in the presence of their idol. Fortunately, though, Callaghan seemed like a very kind, almost fatherly gentleman, and he began plying the boys with gently questions about their work and soon had them eagerly talking about their various inventions. In particular, the man seemed interested in Tadashi's Baymax water rescue bot and Hiro's microbots.

"You know, if you boys finished those projects in time, I think they'd make excellent submissions for the Expo," he tells them as they turn a corner.

"R-really?" Tadashi asks, grinning eagerly.

"Mm!" Callaghan hums in approval, and both of the brothers look absolutely thrilled by the praise.

"There you are!" A voice suddenly breaks into the conversation, and they look down the hallway to where a very relieved-looking Abigail was racing towards them, the tour group that was a little ways behind her slowly playing catch-up.

"Where have you been? I've been all over this building trying to find you!" she cries as she nears them.

"I-I'm sorry," Tadashi apologizes, turning red. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's all right, Abi," the professor suddenly cuts in. "They were with me the entire time."

"Dad!" Abigail's eyes light up with a mixture of understanding and happiness as she notices the older man with the boys.

 _Dad?_ Fred wonders as he glances between the two of them. That's right, the tour guide's last name was also Callaghan-so they were father and daughter? Huh, crazy coincidence, but he could definitely see the resemblance.

"There was a bit of a technical difficulty with this young man's chair, but it's since been fixed," Professor Callaghan tells the young woman with a warm smile. "I also had the opportunity to talk to them about their work while we were trying to find you, and I believe that they'll definitely be joining us here in the fall-there might be a spot for them in my lab."

"That's wonderful!" Abigail beams at the boys. "Well, mainly I'm just glad you're safe, but it's great that you got to talk to my da-.I mean, Professor Callaghan." She gives her father a playful wink, obviously trying to keep up some charade of professionality.

"Y-yeah," Tadashi agrees, grinning back. "We were really, really lucky!"

"Well, I'd better let you all get back to the tour," Callaghan says with a warm chuckle before nodding to them. "Tadashi, Hiro, I look forward to seeing you at the Expo."

" _A-Arigatou_ , _sensei_!" Tadashi breathes, unable to keep a grin off of his face.

"Thank you, professor," Hiro adds in English.

"Wow…" Tadashi whispers as the professor heads off down the hallway. "I… I can't believe that we just met Robert Callaghan!"

"I know!" Hiro agrees, grinning like he'd just won the lottery.

"This is officially the best day ever!"

"Totally!"

"Ahem-sorry to break this up, but if you three don't mind, we do have a tour to finish," Abigail reminds them, coughing gently to get their attention.

"Right!" Tadashi agrees, giving her an embarrassed smile. "Sorry."

"It's all right," Abigail responds with a wry chuckle. "Let's just get you back to the others."

The rest of the tour passed fairly quickly, and while the boys were absolutely thrilled to see all of the high tech classrooms and equipment in the building, they didn't see maybe quite as much as they would have if they were on their own. Once they were back with their group, the other teens wanted details about where they'd been and what they'd been doing and, once they were told, eagerly pressed the guys for every detail they could recall about the legendary professor. They were still talking when they left the building and were so wrapped up in their conversation that they didn't even realize that they were back to where they'd started that morning and the tour was dispersing until Fred looked up and realized that they were pretty much the only ones still standing there aside from a few students and parents who were asking Abigail their last-minute questions.

"So," Wasabi says, looking around at all of them, a sudden uncertainty settling over them. "What now?"

"I don't know," Tadashi admits with a slight frown. "I mean, I guess we'll hopefully see each other at the Expo, but…" He trailed off, the unspoken fact that he might not even be at the Expo this year hanging over them.

"That doesn't mean that we can't still hang out before then!" Honey Lemon declares enthusiastically, breaking the slight gloom that had settled over them.

"Yeah, we can definitely trade numbers and stuff!" Fred points out, brightening at the thought.

"Does anyone have plans for tonight?" Honey Lemon asks as they begin trading phones and information.

It turned out that no one did, although Wasabi had to be home before 8 pm, so when the chipper Latina suggests going someplace for dinner together, no one objects.

"Our aunt has a cafe," Hiro offers as they try to decide upon a place to go. "I mean, Dashi and I have never been there-for obvious reasons-but she's an amazing cook, plus she'd probably give us a discount, so why don't we go there?"

"Sounds perfect!" Honey Lemon cries, clapping her hands eagerly together.

"How far is it?" GoGo asks, already pulling up her gps on her phone.

"I don't know exactly, but I know it's right around here-it's called the Lucky Cat Cafe, if that helps," Hiro answers.

"Got it," GoGo says after taking a moment to google the name and find the address. "Heck, it's just a couple of blocks away, we can totally walk there!"

"Let's get going, then!" Honey Lemon cheers, spearheading the march.

Fred chuckles and grabs the handles of the wheelchair, preparing to begin wheeling the merman after the others. But then, to his surprise, Tadashi suddenly reaches up to grab one of his hands.

"Wait," he says softly, looking up at him. "C-can I talk to you for a second?"

"S-sure," Fred answers, feeling slightly nervous.

"Come around to the front so I can see you," Tadashi tells him.

"O-okay," Fred agrees, gulping convulsively. Oh gosh, this did not sound good… What if after today, Tadashi was seeing just how different they were and that he was completely out of the fanboy's league? What if he had decided that he liked all of his new friends better than him and didn't ever want to see him again? What if-?  
His thoughts were cut mercifully short as Tadashi takes his hands in his own. "Fred," he says, his voice gentle and his sparkling brown eyes exuding warmth and affection. "This… This has been the most amazing day I can ever remember. It was a day I never even thought was possible for pretty much my entire life. I had given up hope of ever getting out of my pool, and worse, I had given up on myself. But you-you came along and changed all of that. You brought me the hope I needed-heck, you didn't just bring me hope, you found a way to break through every single one of my barriers and make my most impossible dreams come true. You… You are amazing. And I want to thank you for everything you've done for me, but, as much as I've tried, I can't even begin to put together the words to do that..."

"Oh, Tadashi," Fred says softly, feeling a warmth flood his chest as he begins to see the merman tearing up. "You know that I'd do anything for you, no matter what it took."

"I know you would," Tadashi agrees, laughing slightly even as a tear begins to roll down his cheek. "Even though I have nothing to offer you, you've still put everything on the line for me over these past few weeks. I-I think that's why I love you so much."

"Oh, Tadashi, you've given me plenty-" Fred starts to protest until Tadashi's last words sink into his brain and he freezes. "W-wait… D-did you just say that you-?"

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees, smiling through his tears. "I-I tried to tell you back on my birthday, but we kind of got interrupted by the radio and I never got the nerve back up after that. But after today… I know. I love you, Fred. With all of my heart."

"Oh m-my g-gosh…" Fred breathes, his head spinning at his boyfriend's sudden declaration. "I-Y-you…"

"You don't have to say it back if you don't feel the same way," Tadashi hurries to reassure him. "I swear, it's okay if you don't! I-I just wanted you to know how I feel about you."

"No," Fred whispers.

"No, you don't feel the same way?" Tadashi asks, despite his words looking slightly hurt by this.

"Yes! I mean no!" Fred cries, stumbling over his words until he forces himself to take a deep breath before taking both of the merman's hands in his own and, looking him directly in the eye, saying softly, "What I'm trying to say is-I love you too, Tadashi Hamada. Probably from the moment I met you, but I just didn't know it for sure until now. But now I know and I want the whole world to know you that I love you and I always will!"

"Y-yeah?" Tadashi whispers, the tears coming faster now.

"Yeah," Fred answers, reaching up to gently wipe the tears away. "C'mon, don't be sad-where's that beautiful smile that I love?" he gently coaxes.

"N-not sad," Tadashi answers, laughing through his tears and doing his best to smile. "Just really, really happy. Insanely much so."

"Me too," Fred agrees warmly. He gently reaches to cup the merman's cheek in his hand, drawing him closer, only for Tadashi to hiccup slightly as he fights down a tiny sob, making them both laugh and momentarily break apart. Then elder Hamada manages to get his composure back and Fred tries again, tenderly pulling his boyfriend towards him. The merman leans in, his chocolate eyes fluttering shut and a blissful expression on his face as Fred gently presses his lips against his. Tadashi's arms wrap his arms around the fanboy's neck and Fred's arms slip around the mer's waist as their lips gently form against together before the both lean in, deepening the kiss. A warm fire blooms between them, burning but not painful as it slowly spreads through both of their bodies. Fred leans in even further, craving this feeling and the taste of their pure love, forgetting the rest of the world and just wanting this beautiful man wrapped in his arms for all of eternity He whines in protest when Tadashi suddenly starts pulling away, trying to pull him back in. If he needed air, he could have his.

"F-Fred," Tadashi gasps, his voice shaking.

"No talking," Fred breathes, tugging at his shirt. "Just kiss me again."

"Fred!" This time Tadashi's voice was more urgent, and it's enough to pull the fanboy at least partially out of his daze.

"What is it?" he asks, feeling concerned as he sees the expression on his boyfriend's face.

"I-" Tadashi whispers, his eyes wider than Fred had ever seen them. "The-the kiss…"

"What about it?" Fred replies, worried that Tadashi hadn't liked it-had he come on too strong?

"It… I think… I think that was it…" Tadashi whispers.

"It?" Fred presses, wondering why the merman was being so cryptic. He just wanted to go back to kissing him!

"J-just look," Tadashi whispers and, to Fred's shock, starts moving the moisturizer off of his legs.

"W-what are you doing?!" the fanboy cries, panicking slightly. "People will see you tai-uh…" His voice trails off as he looks down and, instead of silver fins, he sees two feet. Two _human_ feet.

"That was it," Tadashi repeats, his entire face glowing. "Fred… that was true love's kiss. I-I'm human!"


	17. Chapter 17 (The End)

"Oh m-my gosh…" Fred whispers, his brain unable to process what had just happened. "You-it… Y-you're human?" he finally manages to get out.

"YES!" Tadashi grins and wraps his arms tightly around him. "Y-you did it!"

"I-it wasn't just me," Fred responds, willing his body to snap out of it's shock so that he could hug his boyfriend back. "You did it to. It takes two for it to be true love's kiss, right?"

"R-right," Tadashi agrees, burying his face in his chest. "I… I almost can't believe it…"

"Same here," Fred admits before adding with a grin, "but maybe we'll both believe it more if we get that moisturizer off of you so can actually try those new legs out, huh?"

"W-wait!" Tadashi cries, instinctively moving to clutch the blanket that was covering him protectively closer.

"What's wrong?" Fred asks, feeling slightly confused.

"I…" Tadashi flushes bright red. "Y-you remember what happened when Ariel became human?"

"Yeah…" Fred answers, searching his memory for anything of importance but drawing a blank.

"U-um… To quote Queen Elinor from _Brave_?" Tadashi responds, lowering his voice to a whisper, "I'm naked. Naked as a wee baby."

"You-? Oh. OH!" Fred's eyes instantly go wide with understanding and he starts blushing too.

"Yeah." Tadashi flashes him an apologetic smile. "I don't suppose you happen to have any extra pants on you?"

"That would be a 'no'," Fred admits. "But, um… I'm sure we can find something!"

"Guys, what's going on?" Hiro asks, coming back over to join them. "We're all waiting for you!"

"Do you want to tell him, or should I?" Fred asks, glancing over at the former merman.

"I think I'm too nervous too," Tadashi admits. "Like if I actually say it somehow it won't be true…"

"All right then, I'll tell him!"

"Guys, I don't care who says what, I just want to know what's going on!" Hiro groans.

"Well, little guy, not sure if there's a tactful way to put this so I'll just spit it out-Dashi has legs!" Fred declares triumphantly.

"H-he…. He what?" Hiro whispers, instant shock registering on his face.

"I-it's true," Tadashi answers, still slightly red about the face but grinning. "It was true love's kiss. I-I'm human, otouto!"

For two seconds Fred thought that Hiro was about to completely freak out. But moments later, the younger boy is launching himself at his brother, wrapping him up in a tight hug. "Oh my gosh, nii-chan… This is… I'm so, so happy for you," he says, burying his face into his brother's chest.

"I-I am too, little bro," Tadashi answers, hugging him back. "Now… Now we can finally have our dream-w-we're going to get to go to SFIT together and open up Hamada Bro's inc…"

"Yeah!" Hiro agrees, beaming. "But-even if it weren't for all of that, I'd still be insanely happy for you."

"I know," Tadashi agrees, lightly pecking him on the top of his head. "And that's why you're such an amazing brother."

"Should we even ask?" GoGo asks as the others come over to join them.

"Um, let me first answer that question with a question," Fred replies. "Does anyone happen to have an extra pair of pants on them?"

"What kind of a question is that?" GoGo asks, her brow wrinkling in confusion.

"I actually do," Wasabi replies before Fred can answer, beginning to pull off his backpack. "But may I ask what they're for?"

"Well, apparently transforming from mer to human sadly does not automatically come with it's own wardrobe," Fred answers wryly.

"Wait, what?" That was obviously not the answer that Wasabi had been expecting, but fortunately he'd already been pulling the spare pants out of his bag so even though he froze, Fred was able to pull them out of his hands and hurry over to the wheelchair with them.

"OH MY GOSH!" Honey Lemon squeaks, her hands clapping eagerly. "Dashi's _human_?! Was it true love's kiss?"

"It was," Tadashi agrees, beaming up at Fred.

"Okay, wow…" GoGo drawls, shaking her head slightly. "Will someone please tell me that I'm dreaming, 'cause waaay too many scientific laws and orders of the universe have been shattered today for my taste."

"Mine too," Wasabi agrees with a slight whimper.

"Oh get over it already," Hiro answers, rolling his eyes and taking the pants from Fred. "Look, I'm going to go find somewhere private to help Tadashi get dressed. Think you can get over your existential crises before we get back?"

"I'm sure they can," Fred reassures him before anyone can answer.

"Good." Hiro nods his head, starting to wheel Tadashi towards the nearest convenience store before turning back around and telling the fanboy fiercely, "And don't you even think about being a pervert and following us, because if you do-"

"HIRO!" Tadashi cries, looking slightly horrified.

"Just saying." Hiro shrugs before starting back off again.

"Wow," Honey Lemon says, gently squeezing Fred's arm to snap him out of his slight daze as he watches the brothers go. "You must be really, really excited! I mean-Dashi's human, and you had your true love's kiss! How amazing is that?"

"It's definitely amazing," Fred agrees, a smile finally beginning to form on his face. "Really, really freaking amazing!"

About ten minutes later, Hiro returns with Tadashi still in the wheelchair.

"Figured we'd better not try to get him walking until there were a lot of us around to help," he explains when he sees everyone's curious looks.

Fred nodded-that made sense.

"Did the pants work?" Wasabi asks.

"Well, they're a bit big, but I'm borrowing Hiro's belt, which is kind of too small, but we're making it work," Tadashi chuckles.

"Ooh, you're totally going to have to let me take you shopping for clothes!" Honey Lemon squeals happily before adding, "And of course you'll have to come along too, Fred, so you can tell him how cute he looks when he's trying on stuff!"

"Thanks-I think?" Fred answers, not sure how he felt about being dragged along on a shopping trip but, on the other hand, definitely not opposed to getting to see Tadashi trying on different looks.

"So," Hiro says, removing the blanket and then the moisturizer and setting them off to the side before grinning down at his brother. "You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Tadashi answers with a nervous grin.

"You'll be fine," Fred reassures him, coming over and offering him his arm.

Tadashi's first moments of standing were extremely shaky-he had to lean heavily on Fred, unsure of his balance and almost like a baby deer trying to walk for the first time. The fanboy couldn't help but wryly smile at the fact that his boyfriend was actually slighlty taller than him when standing after spending all this time having to look down at him when he was in the pool-this was something they'd both have to get used to. Still, as Fred gently supports him, he begins gingerly taking his first steps, carefully placing one foot in front of the other as the rest of the group cheers him on. If this had been someone actually getting out of a wheelchair for the first time, the fanboy knew that it would take a lot longer-days, months, even-for them to learn to and gain the strength to walk on their own. But after a couple circles around the little grassy area, Tadashi was becoming more and more confident until, finally, he was able to take one step on his own, and then two, and then three, and then-

"You're walking!" Fred cries, beaming with pride. "You're actually walking!"

"I-I am!" Tadashi agrees, letting out an awestruck laugh before almost missing a step and Fred has to hurry to support him again.

"Maybe not too much on the first day, huh?" Fred says with a slight smile as he helps him back over to the wheelchair.

"Y-yeah," Tadashi agrees, giving him a grateful smile as he sits back down again.

"You were amazing, nii-chan!" Hiro says, hugging him.

"Thanks, otouto," Tadashi answers, hugging him back before looking up at his boyfriend and saying, "And thank you too-for everything."

"You're welcome," Fred answers, gently squeezing his hand and beaming.

"So," GoGo says, cracking her gum thoughtfully. "Is he like this permanently now?"

"We-we don't know," Fred admits. "Maybe."

"Yeah," Tadashi agrees, staring down at his legs with a mixture of pride and sadness.

"You okay?" Fred asks, gently laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Tadashi answers, looking up at him and forcing a smile. "Just… Would be nice to get my tail back at least one last time-y'know, get to say goodbye to it or something."

"Yeah," Fred agrees, not fully able to understand what he was going through but understanding why this might be an emotional moment for him-

"Whoa, wait, what's happening?" Hiro cries, and Fred and Tadashi both look down to see that the elder Hamada's legs were faintly glowing, and then-

"OH MY GOSH!" Instantly the younger boy is grabbing the discarded blanket and tossing it over Tadashi's legs, which were, in fact, now a tail again.

"What the heck?!" Tadashi cries, staring down at it in shock.

"Okay, that's it, I have officially lost my mind," Wasabi mumbles faintly, causing GoGo to whack his arm and tell him to "woman up".

"H-how did you do that?" Fred gasps.

"I-I don't know," Tadashi admits. "I-I was just thinking about having my tail back, and then… It happened!"

Hiro looks deep in thought. "So either the effect of the kiss was only temporary-which I'm doubting-or maybe you actually have some control over what state you're in now. Mind over matter, 'What you think, you become', that sort of thing."

"So, like… I can just think about if I want to be human or mer and I can just… _change_?!" Tadashi asks in disbelief. "That sounds way too easy, and it doesn't make any sense!"

"Does magic ever make sense?" Hiro deadpans. "But seriously, think about it-true love's kiss is supposed to give you your happily ever after, right? And for you, you're happily ever involves being able to be human or mer whenever you want to be either, right? So why would the magic make it more complicated than it needed to be?"

"That… Vaguely makes sense," Fred says, nodding his head slowly and still trying to wrap his mind around it.

"There's only one way to find out," Hiro declares. "Dashi, think you can try turning back to human?"

"I-I can try," Tadashi answers, closing his eyes and concentrating.

"Nothing's happening," Fred reports after a minute.

"Keep trying," Hiro urges. "Maybe-Dashi, try thinking about a really important reason you have for wanting to be human right now.

Tadashi nods silently, seeming to be concentrating even harder and then-

"He changed back!" Fred cries, grinning as he looks down to see feet instead of fins poking out from underneath the blanket (and, fortunately, it looked like the pants had returned along with the legs, preventing more awkward scrambling like last time.)

"So it really is just me thinking about which I want to be," Tadashi breathes, looking tired from the exertion but grinning.

"And I think there's an emotional component to it," Hiro answers, and Fred could almost see the gears turning in his head. "True love's kiss-that's about as emotional as you can get, and it triggered off the first change. Then Tadashi was feeling really sad about losing his tail, and he changed back. That's why I had him think about a reason he really wanted to be human-the emotions were enough to give him the kick start he needed to change again."

"So you're saying that if I get emotional, I'll change?" Tadashi asks, looking slightly concerned.

"I think it might be a component in the process, yes," Hiro agrees slowly. "I think it might be a combination of what you're thinking and what you're feeling, and hopefully with practice you'll be able to control it better."

Tadashi nods, looking like he was concentrating hard on this. "I guess I've got my work cut out for me before the semester starts," he says before grinning. "But hey, at least I should be able to go to SFIT this fall, right?"

"Right!" Honey Lemon agrees with a grin.

"And I'll be there to help you get the hang of the whole changing thing as much as I can until then," Fred reassures him.

"We all will," GoGo says firmly, punching Wasabi not-so-lightly when he doesn't say anything.

"Yeah, um, totally!" he agrees, weakly, rubbing the spot where the Korean woman's fist had connected with his arm and wincing.

"So," Hiro says, looking over to grin at his brother. "What do you think? Should we go surprise Aunt Cass?"

"Totally!" Tadashi agrees, grinning right back at him.

"Lead the way!" Fred agrees, taking his post at the back of the chair again.

The little group starts off down the sidewalk, all talking eagerly about what had just happened, laughing and making plans with Tadashi about all the things they were going to do before the semester started-they all seemed bound and determined to make sure that he got to experience everything that the city had to offer before the summer ended.

When they were just about a block from the cafe, Tadashi insisted on getting out of the chair and walking the rest of the way, determined to surprise Aunt Cass by actually walking into the cafe. Wasabi willingly took over pushing the now empty chair so that both Fred and Hiro could help support the elder Hamada as he made his way down the uneven city sidewalk. For all the effort it took (Tadashi was still getting used to walking, after all) it was completely worth it getting to see the look on Aunt Cass' face when she sees her eldest nephew actually walking into her shop on his own two legs. They actually had to close the cafe down early because she couldn't stop crying for the better part of half an hour, and once she'd finally regained her composure and heard the entire story, she insisted upon taking everyone back to the house in her old blue truck and hosting an impromptu celebration.

Many, many plans were made that night as the soda and hot wings flowed. Fred managed to catch bits and pieces of the discussions that were going on-Honey Lemon setting up a time to take him and Tadashi to the mall the next day to start shopping for clothes, Aunt Cass talking about Tadashi picking out one of the many empty bedrooms in the house to have now that he could live out of the pool (not that they were going to remove his underwater apartment, by any means, but it made sense for him to have a room for more human activities as well), Hiro insisting that his nii-chan take the one right next to his, GoGo talking about teaching the elder Hamada how to ride a bike so he could get around the city faster. It was all incredible and slightly overwhelming, but Tadashi looked completely and totally happy, and that's what mattered to Fred most of all.

"This has probably been the most insanely incredible day of my life," Tadashi admits late that night as he and the fanboy sit on the edge of the pool, both dangling their feet in the water-he'd said he wanted to see what it had been like for Fred and his family all these years, and he seemed to enjoy the sensation of kicking his feet back and forth just under the surface.

"And it's only going to get better from here," Fred reminds him with a slight grin.

"I can't wait," Tadashi admits with a happy sigh as he leans over to rest his head on his boyfriend's shoulder.

"Me neither," Fred admits, gently ruffling his hair.  
"Hey, Fred?" Tadashi says, after a couple of moments of companionable silence.

"Yeah?" Fred answers, looking down at him.

"Y'know how earlier Hiro told me that I needed to concentrate on something I really wanted to do as a human in order to change back?"

"Uh huh," Fred agrees-how could he have forgotten that?

"Do you want to know what it was?"

The fanboy had figured that it was surprising Aunt Cass or going to SFIT, but, not wanting to be rude, he answers, "Sure!"

"There's something I've wanted to do for a while now but I couldn't without legs," Tadashi admits, grinning slightly. "And, if it's alright with you, I'd like to try it now."

"U-um, okay," Fred agrees, his heart beating a little faster when he saw the look in Tadashi's eyes.

Grinning, the other man stands up, pulling the fanboy to his feet as well. Then, as Fred stares expectantly up at him, he suddenly wraps his hands around his waist, picking him up and spinning him around before pulling him into the most passionate kiss Fred had ever experienced.

"Wow…" the fanboy breathes when the finally break apart for air, his head still lost in a Tadashi-flavored haze.

"That good?" Tadashi asks with an eager grin.

"M-more than good," Fred agrees, burying his face into his boyfriend's chest.

"Good-'cause I'm definitely planning to keep doing that," Tadashi responds playfully. "It's not fair that my amazing boyfriend has to initiate all of the good kisses, I want to start surprising him too!"

"I won't complain," Fred admits, smiling dazedly up at him.

Tadashi lets out a warm chuckle before leaning down to kiss him again. "I love you, Fred Lee," he says when they finally break for air.

"And I love you, Tadashi Hamada," Fred answers, wrapping his arms tightly around him.

"Forever?" Tadashi asks softly as they gently sway to the rhythm of each other's heartbeats.

"Forever," Fred agrees, before pulling him into one more kiss. Mer, man, it really didn't matter to the fanboy anymore. All that mattered was that Tadashi was the one he loved with all of his heart, and no one and nothing would ever be able to tear them apart.

~ _Fin_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow guys, can you believe it? This story has finally come to an end! Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with me this whole time! I know some of you are sad it's over-I am too. But don't worry! I have a lot more Fredashi one shots and other fics coming your way! (Not in this particular AU, necessarily-I feel this is a good stopping place for this story, but you never know!) I may take a week or two break, but then I'll definitely try to be posting my next short fic! Thank you all so much again for all of your support! Hope to see you soon!
> 
> ~Bonnie


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